^•' 


MIRROR  LAKE,  YOSEMITE. 


NOTES 


OF 


WHAT  I  SAW, 


AND 


HOW  I  SAW  IT: 


gt  gOMK  gttoiiuxt  tlxc  Wi^ovlA, 

INCLTJDINa 

CALIFORNIA,  JAPAN,  CHINA,  MALACCA,  CEYLON,  INDIA, 
ARABIA,  EUROPE,  CUBA,  AND  MEXICO. 


BY 

LORING   CONVERSE 


BUCYRUS,    OHIO: 
FORUM    STEAM    PRINTING    HOUSE 

1882. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1882,  by 

LORING  CONVERSE  and  J.  H.  WILLISTON, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


a  .^  JX  ^ 


TO 

]V[Y  Beloved  ^ife, 

THE  COMPANION  OF  MY  TRAVELS, 

WHOSE  KEEN  OBSERVATION  AND  INTELLIGENT  CRITICISM 

GAVE   ADDITIONAL  INTEREST  TO  THE 

NOVELTIES  OF  THE  TOUR, 

©tts  Boofe 

IS  LOYIUGLY  DEDICATED. 


PREFACE 


The  author  has  no  apology  to  make  for  placing  this 
book  before  the  public.  The  subjects  with  which  it  deals 
have,  it  is  true,  been  treated  by  much  more  able  pens 
than  my  own ;  but  I  hope  and  believe  that  some  things 
will  be  found  in  the  following  pages  that  will  both  enter- 
tain and  instruct  the  reader.  I  prefer,  however,  that  the 
book  shall  either  commend  or  damn  itself  That  it  is 
freighted  with  imperfections,  I  am  as  fully  aware  as  the 
most  careful  reader  can  be,  but  I  trust  that  no  part  of 
the  narrative  is  inaccurate.  I  have  endeavored  to  tell 
the  story  of  my  tour  of  the  world  in  plain  language,  with 
no  attempt  at  embellishment,  rhetorical  or  otherwise. 
The  letters  first  appeared  in  the  columns  of  the  Bucyrus 
Forum,  and,  as  their  dates  indicate,  were  written  mainly 
amid  the  scenes  to  which  they  relate.  Of  course,  little 
opportunity  was  had  for  leisurely  and  studied  writing. 
They  have  been  revised,  not  so  much  with  the  view  of 
making  material  alterations,  as  for  the  purpose  of  correct- 
ing slight  errors  of  statement  that  resulted  from  hurried 
preparation  and  the  absence  of  opportunities  for  examin- 
ing frequently  necessary  references.  In  this  revision,  the 
author  decided  to  retain  the  light  and  gossippy  features 


6  PREFACE. 

which,  though  frequently  commended  in  newspaper  cor- 
respondence, are  as  often  condemned  when  placed  in 
book  form  before  that  usually  capricious  but  seldom  un- 
just critic,  the  public.  To  my  mind  works  of  travel  are 
too  often  solemnly  profound  disquisitions  upon  abstruse 
theories,  which  weary  the  mind  and  bewilder  the  judg- 
ment, and  from  which  the  most  courageous  reader  turns 
with  distaste.  In  the  following  pages  this  learned  pro- 
fundity has  been  carefully  avoided.  The  author  has 
sought,  so  far  as  in  his  power,  to  amuse  and  entertain,  as 
well  as  instruct,  happy  in  the  belief  that  from  every 
chapter  something  may  be  learned,  and  that  the  reader 
will  not  suffer  from  the  temporary  mental  paralysis  that 
usually  follows  learned  dissertations,  which  few  people 
read  and  fewer  comprehend. 

It  may  seem  that  the  tour  was  hurriedly  made.  Per- 
haps such  a  criticism  would  be  just,  to  a  limited  extent. 
The  reader  is  asked  to  remember  that  the  facilities  for 
travel  have  been  so  systematized  that  a  circuit  of  the 
globe  has  become  but  a  brief  pleasure  voyage.  More 
time  would  have  been  devoted  to  Japan  and  India,  had 
we  been  aware  that  an  unkind  and  absurd  decree  of 
the  Egyptian  authorities  would  deprive  us  of  the  trip  up 
the  Nile,  and  a  visit  to  the  Holy  Land,  Constantinople, 
and  Greece.  This  deviation  from  the  original  programme 
shortened  our  stay  abroad  more  than  two  months,  and 
deprived  the  tour  of  many  of  its  most  attractive  features. 

The  brief  narrative  of  a  tour  through  Cuba  and  Mexico, 
made  two  years  since,  will  tend,  I  hope,  in  some  degree 


PREFACE.  7 

at  least,  to  arouse  an   interest  in   those   countries,  whose 

past  is  largely  tradition  and  whose  present  is  an  unread 

chapter    to   American    readers.      Cuba   and    Mexico,   our 

next  door  neighbors,  are  less  familiar  to  our  people  than 

are  the  antipodes. 

Although  a  native  Yankee,  I  can  not  consistently  boast 

of  accomplishments  superior  to   others,   and   I  ask   only 

that  the  reader  may  treat  this  volume  as  the  emanation 

of  one   who,  in  an  unassuming  manner,  sought  pleasure 

in   making  the  circuit  of  the    globe,   and   pleasure  and 

profit  combined  in  telling  the  public  "  What  I  Saw,  and 

How  I  Saw  It." 

LORING  CONVERSE. 
BucYRUs,  Ohio,  August  1, 1882. 


CONTENTS, 


I. 

PAGE. 

Introductory — The  Cost  of  a  Trip  Around  the  World — 
Through  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  to  California — Perils 
FROM  the  Indians — Deming,  Tucson,  and  Fort  Yuma — The 
Great  Colorado  Desert, 17 

II. 

New  Friends  in  California — The  Guide  to  the  Big  Trees  and 
Yosemite — The  Outfit — The  Trip — A  Feminine  Immigrant — 
The  California  Forests — A  Guide's  Practical  Ideas — The 
Yosemite, 25 

III. 

The  Big  Trees  op  Mariposa — Some  Ideas  upon  California 
Farming — Prospecting  for  Gold — A  Theory  of  Interest  to 
California  Widows, 34 

IV. 

From  Madera  to  San  Francisco — The  Pacific  Coast  as  a    • 
Farming   Country — The  Wheat  Production — San  Fran- 
cisco Hotels — Off  for  Japan, 41 

V. 

On  the  Pacific — Incidents  of  the  Voyage — A  Brief  Disser- 
tation ON  THE  Chinese,  Supplemented  by  an  Unprofes- 
sional Treatise  on  Navigation — Arrival  in  Japan,  ....    46 

9 


10  CONTENTS. 

yi 

PAGE. 

Japan  and  the  Japanese — A  Condensed  Historical  Sketch — 
The  Curious  Customs  of  a  Curious  People — Visit  to  the 
Temples  near  Yokohama — A  Religion  with  an  Ample  Sup- 
ply OF  Gods, 53 

VII. 

Further  op  the  Japanese — A  Visit  to  Diabutz — The  Tem- 
ples— A  Japanese  Hotel  and  Dinner — The  City  of  Yoko- 
hama— Its  Business  and  its  People, 66 

yiii. 

From  Yokohama  to  Yeddo — A  Japanese  Railroad — The  Cap- 
ital and  its  People — Shopping  in  Yeddo — Visit  to  Shiba 
AND  the  Tombs  of  the  Tycoons — The  Mikado's  Castle — An 
Earthquake 80 

IX. 

HiOGO,  Kioto,  and  the  Vicinity — A  Visit  to  Japan's  Ancient 
Capital — More  op  the  Temples  and  Hotels — A  Japanese 
Cobbler  and  his  Shop — The  Cultivation  op  Tea  and  Rice — 
A  Primitive  Manner  of  Harvesting, 92 


Still  in  the  Land  of  Japs — Osaka — Its  Appearance  and  Sur- 
roundings— Observations  upon  the  People  and  their  Cus- 
toms— The  Expenses  of  a  Trip  to  the  Mikado's  Ejipire — 
Many  Pleasures  and  some  Drawbacks  Attending  it,  .  .    .    104 

XI. 

Farewell  to  the  Land  of  the  Mikado — Visit  to  Nagasaki, 
AND  Sail  for  China — Interesting  Historical  Sketch  of 
Japan— Its  Religion,  Resources,  and  Manufactures,  ...    11§ 


CONTENTS.  11 

XII. 

PAGE. 

China  and  the  Chinese — Arrival  at  Shanghai — Tour  of  the 
City — A  Badly  Disgusted  Tourist — He  Expresses  a  De- 
cided Opinion  op  the  Celestials — The  Filthiest  Creatures 
ON  Earth, 133 

XIII. 

Shanghai  to  Hong  Kong — Something  of  the  Latter  City — 
Chinese  Filial  Affection  Illustrated — The  Writer  soon 
Satisfied  with  the  Heathen — His  Picture  and  those  of 
Others  Compared — A  Brief  Disquisition  upon  the  Value 
OF  THE  Chinaman  as  a  Citizen, 144 

XIV. 

Hong  Kong  to  Singapore— Scenes  and  Incidents  of  the  Voy- 
age— The  "  Blarsted  Britishers,"  and  their  Ideas  op 
America — Singapore — Its  People  and  Other  Inhabitants — 
A  Paralyzing  Snake  Story, 155 

XY. 

Penang  and  the  Bengal  Sea — Among  the  Natives — An  Ob- 
tuse Driver  who  did  x't  understand  his  Business — The 
Need  of  a  Universal  Language — Malay  Funeral  Pro- 
cession— Liberal  Provision  for  the  Dead — Thanksgiving- 
day  in  the  Tropics — Incidents  op  the  Voyage,  and  Ar- 
rival IN  Ceylon, 168 

XYI. 

Ceylon  and  the  Cingalese — Historical  Sketch  of  the  Isl- 
and— Its  People — Natural  Productions — A  Veritable 
Earthly  Paradise — Incidents  of  a  Sojourn, 178 

XVII. 

Further  op  Ceylon — Trip  to  Colombo  and  Kandy — The 
Ancient  and  Modern  Capitals — Something   moke  op  the 


12  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Natives — Railroading    in    the   Tropics — Some    Disadvan- 
tages OF  A  Eesidence, 191 

XVIII. 

Ceylon  to  Calcutta — A  Novel  but  Luxurious  Bath — Madras 
AND  the  Native  Hindoos — The  Immorality  of  Foreigners 
IN  THE  Orient — One  Reason  why  the  Christian  Missions 

ARE    NOT    more    SUCCESSFUL — ThE    MoUTHS    OP    THE    GaNGES — 

Arrival  at  Calcutta, 207 

XIX. 

In  the  Indian  Metropolis — The  Impression  of  England  upon 
ITS  Architecture — Visit  to  the  Botanical  and  Zoological 
Gardens — The  Native  City — Palace  of  the  King  of  Oude — 
The  Temples — Caste— A  Pleasant  Evening, 217 

XX. 

Calcutta  to  Benares — The  "  Holy  City  "  of  the  Brahmins — 
Its  Gorgeous  Temples  and  Dirty  Devotees — The  Beastly 
Habits  of  the  Native  Fanatics — The  Brahmin's  Chance 
FOR  the  Future  Philosophically  Considered, 231 

XXI. 

LUCKNOW,  THE  ReAL  "  CiTY  OF  PaLACES  " — ItS  CONNECTION  WITH 

THE  Indian  Mutiny — Visit  to  the  American  Mission,  .  .    .    245 

XXII. 

From  Lucknow  to  Oawnpore — The  Scene  op  the  Massacre  op 
1857 — Agra,  "The  City  of  the  Beautiful" — The  Great 
Taj  Mahal — One  of  the  Wonders  of  the  World — A  Tomb 
THAT  WAS  Seventeen  Years  in  Building,  Occupying  the 
Labor  of  Twenty  Thousand  Men,  and  Costing  Eighteen 
Millions  op  Dollars, 253 


CONTENTS.  13 

XXIII. 

PAGE. 

Delhi — The  Old  Cities  and  the  New — The  Ancient  Ruins — 
KooTUB  MiNAE — The  Jumping  Well — The  Mosque  of  Jumna 
MusjiD — The  Imperial  Palace — The  Peacock  Throne — 
Delhi  in  the  Mutiny — Social  Life  of  the  Hindoos,  ....    270 

XXIV. 

The  Tour  op  India  Continued — The  Author  a  Guest  of  Roy- 
alty— From  Jeypoor  to  the  Coast — Bombay  and  its  'Sur- 
roundings— The  "Tower  op  Silence" — How  the  Parsees 
Dispose  of  their  Dead — The  Wonderful  Temple  on  Ele- 
phanta  Island — A  Modificatiox  of  Programme — Egypt, 
the  Holy  Land,  Turkey,  and  Greece  Cut  Out, 283 

XXY. 

The  Hindoos  as  a  People — Their  Social  Customs — Religious 
Beliefs  and  Ceremonials — Self-inflicted  Tortures  and 
Sacrifices, 300 

XXVI. 

Farewell  to  India — Sail  for  Egypt — On  the  Arabian  Sea — 
Religious  Services  at  Sea — Arrival  at  Aden — Through 
the  Red  Sea — The  Suez  Canal — The  Land  op  Promise  For- 
bidden TO  THE  Tourists — Arrival  at  Brindisi, 313 

XXVII. 

Naples  and  Rome — The  Ascent  of  Mount  Vesuvius — An  Un- 
pleasant Adventure  with  a  Guide — Ramble  among  the 
Ruins  of  Pompeii — Rome  and  the  Romans,  Ancient  and 
Modern — The  Coliseum — St.  Peter's — Wandering  through 
the  Catacombs, 328 

XXVIII. 

Through  Italy  to  Germany — Pisa,  Florence,  Venice,  Milan, 
Munich,  and   Heidelberg — Italian   Hotel   Keepers,  and 


14  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

THEiK  Dark   Ways — Contrast   between    Italy   and   Ger- 
many— How  OUR  Deutsche  Brethren  Drink  Beer, 347 

XXIX. 

Germany,  Holland,  London — The  Trip  Down  the  Rhine — A 
Short  Tour  through  Holland — The  Author  in  London — 
The  Tower — Westminster  Abbey,  The  Museum,  Etc. — Why 
He  did  n't  attend  the  Queen's  Reception, 364 

XXX. 

Edinburgh,  Glasgow,  Belfast — A  Visit  to  the  Giant's  Cause- 
way— Impressions  in  Ireland — Londonderry  and  the  Voy- 
age ACROSS  the  Atlantic — Concluding  Compliments  to  the 
"  Blarsted  Britishers," 382 

XXXI. 

At  Home — A  Resume  op  the  Tour — Advice  to  Travelers — Ex- 
penses of  a  Trip  Around  the  World — "  Welcome  Home,"  .  398 


Cuba  and  Mexico. 


I. 

Through  the  South  to  Cuba — Effects  of  the  War  upon  the 
Southern  Country  and  its  People — In  Florida — Voyage 
upon  the  St.  John's  River — Visit  to  a  Negro  Church — 
Distinguished  Fellow-Passengers — Grant's  Reception  at 
Havana, 407 

II. 

The  Cubans  and  the  Spaniards — Havana  and  its  People — The 
Style  of  Architecture— The  Parks — A  Visit  to  the  Ca- 
thedral— The  Cuban  Hotels, 414 


CONTENTS.  15 

III. 

PAGE. 

Mercantile  Havana — The  Market-men — Cuban  Marriages — 
Temperance  in  Liquor — The  Consumption  of  Tobacco — The 
Dairy-men — The  National  Amusements — Bull  and  Cock 
Fighting — A  Visit  to  the  Cemetery — The  Lottery — Cuban 
Nobility, 419 

IV. 

Matanzas  and  Cardenas — Visit  to  a  Sugar  Plantation — The 
Process  of  Manufacture  in  Detail — Tobacco  Culture — Neg- 
lected Agriculture— Why  Cuba  is  not  more  Prosperous,  .   427 

V. 

Farewell  to  Cuba — En  Route  to  Mexico — Yucatan  and  its 
People — Arrival  at  Vera  Cruz — A  Disappointment — The 
Ancient  City  and  its  Inhabitants — The  Cathedral — An  Az- 
tec Temple — A  Cock  Fight — Off  for  the  City  of  Mexico,  .   432 

YI. 

From  Vera  Cruz  to  the  City  of  Mexico — In  the  Capital — Its 
Appearance — The  Streets,  the  Grand  Plaza,  the  Palace, 
and  the  Cathedral — The  Aztec  Temple  op  Sacrifice — 
Dangers  of  the  Capital — The  Virgin  of  Guadalupe — A 
Fanatical  Legend, 439 

VII. 

PuEBLA,  Orizaba,  and  Cordova  to  Vera  Cruz — A  Bull  Fight — 
The  Old  Inquisition  at  Puebla — The  American  Mission — 
Valley  op  Orizaba — Perpetual  Snow  in  the  Tropics — A 
Mexican  Circus — An  American  Planter— Arrival  at  Vera 
Cruz — Sail  for  Home, 448 


I. 


Introductory — The  Cost  of  a  Trip  Arottnd  the  "World— Through 
New  Mexico  and  Arizona  to  California — Perils  from  the 
Indians— Deming,  Tucson,  and  Fort  Yuma — The  Great  Col- 
orado Desert. 

Madera,  Cal.,  September  8,  1881. 

Many  things  are  requisite  for  a  journey  such  as  has 
been  undertaken  by  myself  and  Mrs.  Converse.  First 
may  be  enumerated  the  phick,  the  determination  to  over- 
come the  obstacles  Avhich  one  will  find  springing  in  his 
path  as  plentiful  almost  as  the  cacti  on  the  plains  of  Arizona. 
Second,  a  passport,  money,  and  tickets.  Of  the  latter 
named,  the  first  and  the  last  are  very  readily  obtained  if  you 
are  fortunately  blessed  with  the  second.  With  these  and  the 
blessings  of  Providence  the  trip  which  we  have  undertaken 
can  readily  be  made.  The  blessing  of  Providence  being 
in  all  things  an  essential,  your  readers  will  not  be  sur- 
prised to  learn  that,  during  my  experience  of  the  past  few 
days,  when  I  had  some  fear  that  Providence  had  deserted 
me  for  the  time  being,  I  felt  more  than  a  little  discouraged. 
My  money,  passports,  and  tickets  were  all  right,  but  my 
pluck  and  determination  were  more  than  once  at  the  lowest 
ebb.     But  of  this  anon. 

In  the  following  pages  I  shall  write  in  plain,  unvar- 
nished language,  detailing,  so  far  as  may  be,  the  daily  ex- 
periences of  an  unassuming  citizen,  who  travels  for  his 
own  amusement  and  instruction,  together  with  that  of  his 
companion,     I  ask  the  consideration  of  my  readers,  hoping 


18  WHAT  I  SAW, 

that  they  will  feci  no  envy,  for  I  can  assure  them  that 
many  of  our  experiences  of  the  following  nine  mouths  will 
not  be  of  a  character  wholly  enviable.  If  auy  one  is  dis- 
posed to  imitate  our  example,  they  are  welcome  to  follow 
in  our  tracks.  I  never  left  home  before  so  reluctantly  as 
this  time,  and  think  this  will  be  my  last  trip  out  of  the 
United  States.  Home  and  friends  are  dear  to  us,  and  we 
will  never  forget  the  friendly  feelings  shown  toward  us  on 
our  departure,  and  hope  they  may  grow  tenfold  to  greet 
us  on  our  return. 

It  may  perhaps  interest  some  of  my  readers  to  know  what 
such  a  tour  as  that  we  have  entered  upon  will  cost,  and 
for.  this  reason  I  will  enter  upon  details  that  under  different 
circumstances  I  would  omit.  Foreign  travel  has,  during 
the  past  few  years,  become  so  thoroughly  systematized  that 
a  tour  of  the  world  no  longer  presents  obstacles  of  great 
difficulty.  We  travel  under  the  auspices  of  a  company 
whose  established  business  it  is  to  throw  a  fatherly  care 
and  watchful  guidance  around  those  who,  like  ourselves, 
are  tempted  to  wander  in  foreign  lands.  Of  this  com- 
pany, whose  head-quarters  are  in  London,  we  purchased 
tickets  for  the  entire  circuit  of  the  globe,  paying  therefor 
three  thousand  and  five  hundred  dollars,  or  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  each.  This  includes  all 
travel  on  all  waters  and  expenses  up  the  Nile,  and  through 
the  Holy  Land  for  thirty  days,  leaving  one  hundred  and 
twenty -six  days  out  of  two  hundred  and  sixty  for  us  to  pay 
hotel  bills,  carriage  hire,  guides,  etc.  I  have  a  letter  of 
credit  with  which  I  can  step  into  any  bank  in  the  world 
and  draw  a  check,  that  the  bank  at  home  picks  up  and 
charges  to  me.  The  probable  cost  of  these  one  hundred 
and  twenty-six  days  is  one  thousand  two  hundred  and 
sixty  dollars. 

"We  left  Bucyrus  September  1,  1881,  on  time  (and  will 


AND  HO W  I  SAW  IT.  19 

try  the  round  trip  to  work  to  it)^  and  went  via  Chicago  to 
Kansas  City,  and  thence  by  sundry  and  devious  ways  which 
I  will  briefly  describe  to  this  place.  We  were  warned  that 
travel  through  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  was  unsafe,  and 
this  is  the  reason  why  our  tour  through  that  delectable  section 
partook  of  the  nature  of  a  flying  trip.  I  often  wished  we  had 
been  able  to  transform  it  into  a  literal  aerial  passage. 
Through  Kansas  we  had  most  of  the  way  the  "hot  Avinds," 
and  those  who  have  only  read  of  them  can  form  but  a 
slight  idea  of  the  blasts.  In  some  places  it  was  hot  as — 
the  hottest  kitchen  you  ever  saw.  The  settlements  along 
the  line  are  more  numerous  than  over  the  Denver  route. 
We  passed  along  the  banks  of  the  Arkansas  River,  the  bed 
of  which  is  but  little  lower  than  the  land.  As  far  as  the 
eye  can  reach  the  country  has  the  appearance  of  dreary 
desolation.  Near  the  Colorado  line  we  crossed  over  the 
river  and  passed  south-west  over  much  the  same  kind  of 
country,  through  Trinidad,  Colorado,  to  Ratoun,  New 
Mexico,  for  breakfast.  At  Ratoun  we  began  to  touch  the 
mountains,  and  the  scenery  underwent  a  striking  trans- 
formation; the  wearying  stretch  of  desolate  plains  gave 
way  to  the  bold  elevations  of  the  foot-hills,  and  in  the 
background  rose  the  towering  peaks  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. The  valleys  between  the  foot-hills  are  quite  fertile, 
and  are  well  covered  with  sheep  and  cattle,  of  which  there 
seemed  to  be  countless  thousands.  These  lands  look  much 
more  inviting  than  any  in  Kansas.  I  have  now  been  through 
Kansas  in  nearly  every  part,  and  each  time  I  become  more 
and  more  disgusted.  The  country  through  New  INIexico 
as  far  south  as  Las  Vegas  is  beautiful.  At  that  point  we 
begin  to  strike  a  high  altitude.  My  instrument  marked 
six  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  with  the  ther- 
mometer at  seventy  degrees.  The  valley  is  five  thousand 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.     We  had  intended  to  spend 


20  WHAT  I  SA  W, 

a  (lay  at  Albuquerque,  but  as  the  Indians  had  a  short  time 
previously  held  the  place  for  a  few  days,  we  were  only 
too  glad  to  give  the  town  a  not  very  regretful  "  go-by/' 
escorted  as  we  happily  were  by  a  car-load  of  United  States 
troops  for  Fort  Wingate.  The  country  from  Albuquerque 
is  all  the  way  very  unsafe,  and  we  were  so  told  l)y  the 
railroad  officials.  For  one  hundred  miles  south  we  were 
threatened  with  Indian  raids.  On  the  Avay  to  the  Rio 
Grande  we  all  carried  our  lives  in  our  hands,  as  the  saying 
is,  and  I  could  name  at  least  two  of  the  travelers  who  are 
profoundly  thankful  and  perhaps  a  little  surprised  that  they 
continue  to  retain  theirs.  Finally  we  reached  Deming,  at  the 
south-west  corner  of  New  Mexico.  There  were  six  of  us  for 
California,  and  at  this  point  we  talked  much  of  going  north 
to  Denver,  and  from  thence  over  the  Central  railroad,  but 
Salutha,  my  worthy  companion  for  many  years,  put  an 
emphatic  veto  upon  any  such  proceeding.  "  We  will  go 
through !"  said  she,  and  we  went.  Now,  I  am  free  to  con- 
fess that  I  was  afraid,  desperately  afraid.  I  started  out 
/  for  a  trip  of  quiet  enjoyment,  not  to  hunt  Indians,  nor,  for 
that  matter,  to  have  them  hunt  me.  We  crossed  the  Rio 
Grande  a  little  north  of  Deming.  As  far  as  the  eye  could 
range  nothing  was  to  be  seen  but  a  vast  area  of  marsh, 
followed  as  we  progressed  by  flinty  gravel — good  for  nothing 
whatever,  unless  it  be  back  in  the  mountains,  where  valu- 
able minerals  no  doubt  abound. 

Deming  is  ten  weeks  old,  has  a  population  of  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty,  who  are  ruled  in  a  Avay  peculiar 
to  frontier  villages.  In  this  case  the  absolute  ruler  is  a 
desperado  who  keeps  a  saloon  and  boasts  of  the  number 
of  men  he  has  killed.  He  bears  the  name  of  Colonel 
Bocie,  aged  twenty-seven,  and  is  the  most  desperate  white 
savage  in  the  entire  valley.  One  way  he  has  of  amusing 
himself  is  to  gather  the  cow-boys  and  lead  them  into  Old 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  21 

Mexico  (thirty  miles),  and  drive  off  every  thing  they  want. 
I  would  not  risk  my  life  in  Demiug  over  night.  The 
railroad  company  have  a  splendid  station,  and  the  road 
is  now  done  to  El  Paso,  and  will  soon  be  finished  to  San 
Antonio,  Texas.  This  is  the  Southern  Pacific  proper.  The 
desperadoes  are  as  much  to  be  feared  as  the  Indians,  and 
the  railroad  officers  admit  that  if  there  are  not  more  than 
one  or  two  killed  a  week  every  body  congratulates  his 
neighbor  upon  the  growing  peace  and  quiet  of  the  place. 
The  territorial  jury  bring  in  a  verdict  of  "  suicide."  Sui- 
cides are  never  very  pleasant  subjects  to  contemplate,  and 
I  hope  I  may  be  preserved  from  forming  the  subject  of  a 
grim  and  humorous  New  Mexican  coroner's  jury. 

The  railroad  company  provided  each  of  us  with  a 
Winchester  rifle  and  fifty  rounds  of  ammunition,  and  we  left 
Deming  for  Tucson,  Arizona,  having  to  pass  for  two  hun- 
dred miles  through  the  hostile  Indian  country,  where  they 
are  now  on  the  war-path,  two  thousand  warriors  strong, 
and  near  to  the  late  massacre.  All  armed  as  we  were,  I 
did  not  feel  even  a  little  bit  safe,  and  would  willingly, 
eagerly  have  exchanged  my  whole  military  outfit  and  pro- 
spective glory  for  one  glimpse  of  the  dusty  streets  and 
umbrageous  shades  of  peaceful  Bucyrus.  It  cooled  my 
ardor  for  travel  more  than  a  little.  But  my  partner 
wanted  to  go,  and  it  would  not  have  looked  masculine  in 
me  to  say  no.  Every  once  in  a  while  the  interest  which 
I  did  n't  feel  in  going  ahead  was  greatly  increased  by  the 
reports  of  army  officers  whom  we  met.  All  agreed  that 
there  was  great  danger,  and  for  my  part  I  was  willing  to 
omit  investigation. 

We  passed  on  through,  however,  safely  to  Tucson, 
though  every  mile  was  pregnant  with  peril,  and  we  could 
almost  see  over  the  mountains  where  the  massacre  lately 
took  place.     I  would  have  stopped  a  few  days  in  New 


22  WHAT  I  SAW, 

Mexico  and  Arizona,  but,  under  the  circumstances,  there 
was  little  that  I  cared  to  see. 

Tucson  is  quite  a  fine  place,  of  perhaps  two  thousand 
inhabitants,  Mexicans  and  whites,  but  the  interest  in  the 
country  Avhich  we  had  lost  away  over  in  New  Mexico  not 
having  yet  returned,  we  pushed  on  toward  a  land  where 
safety  beckoned  us. 

From  Tucson  to  Fort  Yuma  the  scenery  is  grand,  but 
the  soil  is  good  for  nothing,  except  cactus  and  Indians. 
The  road  passes  along  the  Gila  River  and  thence  to  the 
Colorado.  Very  little  grading  has  been  necessary,  and  I 
little  wonder  that  they  were  able  to  lay  the  track  at  the 
rate  of  four  miles  per  day.  On  each  side  of  the  railroad 
the  ground  is  covered  with  beautiful  cactus,  now  in 
bloom.  ISIy  experience  in  Mexico  taught  me  that  wher- 
ever the  cactus  is  found  the  soil  is  wholly  worthless.  I 
had  well  read  up  the  Southern  Pacific  railroad  survey  by 
the  government,  and  was  ready  to  find  just  such  a  country 
as  we  did. 

Fort  Yuma  is  but  a  small  village,  set  down  on  a  sand- 
bank by  the  Colorado  and  Gila  Rivers.  It  is  distant  from 
the  Gulf  of  California  about  ninety  miles,  and  is  about 
upon  a  level  with  the  sea.  It  is  warm.  I  use  that  term 
in  its  full  significance,  but  perhaps  my  readers  will  be 
able  to  more  fully  grasp  my  meaning  if  I  say  it  is  insuffer- 
ably hot.  At  Yuma  we  took  breakfast,  and  entered  the 
Great  Colorado  Desert,  which  is  four  hundred  and  eighty 
miles  long  and  from  ten  to  one  hundred  wide.  Such  a 
picture  of  desolation  the  imagination  of  man  can  not  com- 
prehend. No  one  can  realize  just  what  a  desert  is  until 
he  has  visited  this  spot,  so  lonely,  so  desolate,  so  barren 
that  even  God  himself  seems  to  have  deserted  it.  The 
heat  is  at  all  times  intense,  ranging  when  we  passed  over 
from  one  hundred  and  ten  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  23 

degrees.  How  the  survey  was  ever  made  through  this  re- 
gion is  a  mystery  to  me.  I  do  not  see  how  men  or  animals 
could  endure  it.  Nature  was  not  satisfied  apparently  with 
the  usual  discomforts,  and  when  we  were  passing  through, 
a  sand-storm  was  arranged,  perhaps  for  our  particular 
benefit.  I  will  not  risk  my  reputation  by  attemj^ting  a 
description  of  a  storm  of  inconceivable  violence,  where 
fine  particles  of  burning  hot  sand  and  alkali  took  the  place 
of  ordinary  meteorological  elements,  penetrating  every 
crevice,  scorching  the  skin  and  irritating  the  mucous  and 
bronchial  membranes  until  existence  ceased  to  be  a  comfort. 
The  stations  along  the  road  are  all  small,  and  each  has 
a  double  roof,  one  about  a  foot  above  the  other,  thus  pro- 
viding some  protection  from  the  heat.  Quite  often  there 
are  placed  against  the  telegraph  poles  a  mysterious  appear- 
ing box.  The  meaning  of  this  was  explained  when  our 
train  operator  got  out  and,  attaching  his  battery  to  the 
wire  Avithin  this  box,  sent  a  message  to  the  outer  world, 
notifying  them  perhaps  that  we  were  still  alive,  which  in- 
formation could  have  scarcely  been  either  as  satisfactory 
or  as  surprising  to  them  as  to  us.  At  one  such  place 
we  saw  a  newly  made  grave,  where  some  foolish  emigrant 
had  endeavored  to  cross  this  great  American  Sahara.  The 
wheel  tracks  were  still  fresh  appearing,  but  the  companion 
of  the  venturesome  traveler  had  gone  to  rest.  I  thought 
as  I  gazed  upon  the  grave,  of  the  expectations  and  hopes 
that  beat  within  the  breast  beneath,  of  the  life-struggles 
that  carried  him  onward  in  the  battle  of  existence,  finally 
to  find  surcease  and  eternal  rest  beneath  the  sands  of  the 
Colorado  Desert.  A  board  driven  in  at  the  head  and  the 
foot  of  the  grave  alone  mark  the  resting  place  of  the 
sleeper,  who  there,  far  from  human  habitation,  in  a  region 
shunned  even  by  the  prowling  coyote  and  the  carrion-fed 
birds  of  the  air,  awaits  the  sound  which  shall  bid  us  all  arise. 


24  WHAT  I  SAW, 

We  thank  our  God  we  have  passed  over  the  road  in 
safety.  All  the  officials  of  the  line  were  kind  and  courteous, 
and  the  scenery,  except  the  desert,  is  grand.  When  the 
Indian  troubles  are  ended  it  will  be  the  favorite  Winter 
route  to  California. 

We  arrived  at  Los  Angeles  AYednesday  evening  at  6 
P.  M.  As  we  had  both  been  there  in  1876,  and  had  then 
written  up  its  points  of  attraction,  we  only  stopped  to 
secure  a  bag  full  of  oranges,  peaches,  and  grapes,  for  which 
I  paid  but  "  two  bits."  We  continued  on  to  this  place,  a 
very  small  town,  clean  and  neat,  ninety  miles  from  the  Big 
Trees.  I  am  now  waiting  for  our  driver  and  guide  to  get 
ready  for  the  trip  to  the  Yosemite,  for  which  we  will  start 
to-morrow  (Friday)  morning,  intending  to  be  gone  six 
days. 

I  am  an  old  enough  traveler  to  know  that  stages  are  a 
curse  to  travelers,  inasmuch  as  they  are  simply  a  legalized 
system  of  brigandage,  where  a  wayfarer  is  robbed  with  as 
little  ceremony  and  much  more  certainty  than  by  the 
"  road  agents."  Consequently  we  shall  make  an  independ- 
ent trip  to  the  Big  Trees  and  Yosemite.  It  will  cost  us 
about  half  what  it  would  to  travel  by  the  stage  line.  I 
have  just  made  a  contract  for  a  driver  and  guide,  good 
team  and  good  vehicle,  for  six  days,  in  and  out,  for  sixty- 
six  dollars  for  two  of  us.  We  pay  nothing  extra  except 
board  and  beds.  The  usual  fare  is,  or  has  been,  ninety 
dollars  each. 

We  wish  to  return  here  this  day  week  (Thursday),  and 
go  to  San  Francisco  on  the  15th,  from  whence  we  will  sail 
on  the  17th. 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  25 


11. 


New  Friends  in  California — The  Guide  to  the  Big  Trees  and 
YosEMiTE— The  Outfit— The  Trip — A  Feminine  Immigrant — 
The  California  Forests — A  Guide's  Practical  Ideas — The 
Yosemite. 

Madera,  Cal.,  September  13, 1881. 

Although  tliis  letter  is  dated  at  this  point  (the  same 
where  my  last  was  penned),  it  is  really  composed  of  frag- 
ments hastily,  and  may  be  a  little  carelessly  thrown  to- 
gether at  odd  times  during  our  trip  from  here  to  the  Big 
Trees  and  Yosemite  and  return,  occupying  a  week. 

Before,  however,  entering  upon  the  details  of  the  trip, 
I  can  not  resist  the  temptation  to  speak  of  some  friend- 
ships we  have  formed  among  the  good  people  of  this  town. 
There  are  bright  oases  in  the  tour  of  life  which  can  readily 
be  found  and  keenly  enjoyed  by  all  who  seek  for  them,  I 
have  found  many  in  my  Avanderings ;  have  formed  many 
pleasant  and  valuable  acquaintances — true  men  and  women, 
who  exhibit  an  unmistakable  pleasure  in  adding  to  the 
comfort  and  enjoyment  of  others.  One  of  the  most  con- 
spicuous of  these  is  mine  host  Mace,  landlord  of  the  Mace 
Hotel  at  this  place — a  jolly,  fat,  good-natured  fellow,  weigh- 
ing about  four  hundred  pounds,  with  a  heart  that  will  weigh 
six  hundred  more.  He  literally  compels  his  guests  to  feel 
at  home,  and  they  part  from  him  always  with  regret  and 
the  hope  that  kind  fortune  may  throw  them  into  contact 
with  many  more  like  him.  We  also  formed  the  acquaint- 
ance of  the  postmaster,  one  of  the  ubiquitous  Ohio  men. 
His  name  is  Moore^  and  he  hails  from  Belleville — almost 


26  WHAT  I  SAW, 

close  enough  for  a  Bucyrian  to  call  him  a  neighbor.  He 
is  one  of  the  old  "  forty-niners/'  having  come  to  California 
thirty-two  years  ago.  We  accepted  an  invitation,  and 
s^^ent  a  few  very  pleasant  hours  at  his  house,  in  company 
with  himself  and  estimable  lady.  Every  thing  possible 
was  done  by  these  friends  to  make  our  stay  pleasant,  and 
we  can  assure  them  that  Ave  will  carry  away  with  us  many 
pleasurable  recollections  of  their  kindness. 

We  were  very  fortunate  in  our  selection  of  a  guide  to 
the  Big  Trees  and  the  Yosemite,  having  secured  a  faithful 
young  Scotchman  named  Denny,  whom  I  cheerfully  com- 
mend to  all  who  may  pass  this  way.  I  speak  of  this  more 
particularly,  because  an  honest  and  faithful  guide  is  not  to 
be  picked  up  every  day.  We  started  from  Madera  on 
Friday  morning  last,  after  a  good,  substantial  breakfast, 
and  with  every  premonition  of  a  pleasant  trip.  A  part 
of  our  baggage  we  left  behind,  and  of  course  some  things 
that  we  failed  to  bring  along  are  just  what  we  need  the 
most ;  my  paper,  for  instance,  and  now  I  am  writing  these 
notes  away  up  on  the  mountain,  on  paper  which  I  was 
compelled  to  beg  of  a  fellow-tourist.  Our  outfit  consisted 
of  a  driver  and  guide,  vested  in  one  jjerson,  a  heavy 
spring  wagon,  with  a  good  top  for  shelter,  and  baggage 
limited  to  the  probable  necessities  of  the  trip.  Thus  we 
began  our  ride  of  ninety  miles.  Thirty  miles  out  we 
stopped  at  a  fig  ranch,  a  small  wood  cottage,  surrounded 
by  an  extensive  fig  orchard.  Under  one  of  these  trees  I 
am  now  seated,  endeavoring  to  fit  together  a  connected 
account  of  our  experiences,  while  the  mercury  in  the 
thermometer  dances  recklessly  about  in  the  nineties.  The 
old  lady  who  presides  over  this  ranch  has  been  the  victim 
of  experiences,  pleasant  and  otherwise,  which  would  fill  a 
volume  and  be  as  entertaining  as  a  novel.  She  was  born 
in  Missouri,  several  years  ago ;  moved  to  Texas  when  quite 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  27 

young,  and  endured  the  dangers  and  hardshijDs  of  life  on 
the  border  there  for  six  years.  In  1853  she  started  for 
California,  in  a  train  of  thirty-two  wagons,  and  was  nine 
months  on  the  way,  having  passed  over  a  part  of  Old 
Mexico  and  then  through  the  great  Colorado  Desert. 
After  listening  to  her  story  of  the  trip  across  the  desert, 
the  hardships  which  we  encountered  in  a  palace  car  sank 
into  infinitesimally  small  ^proportions.  Doubtless,  how- 
ever, the  inconveniences  she  experienced  were  not  really 
much  greater  to  her  than  ours  were  to  us.  There  is 
much  in  being  used  to  such  things,  I  guess.  I  am  not 
accustomed  to  traveling,  armed  like  a  pirate,  as  a  possible 
protection  against  probable  Indians,  and  I  have  not  the 
least  desire  to  become  inured  to  it.  Consequently,  I  hereby 
file  my  earnest,  though  perhaps  not  very  effective,  protest 
against  Indians  in  general,  and  those  pesky  red-skins  who 
roam  around  searching  for  scalps  in  particular. 

In  the  country  which  we  are  now  passing  through, 
game  is  abundant  and  of  various  kinds.  Bear,  deer,  and 
antelope  abound,  with  also  a  seemingly  unlimited  supply 
of  snakes,  tarantulas,  and  other  unpleasant  "  varmints." 
This  is  an  excellent  country  to  "  rise  in  the  world."  We 
have  been  rising  ever  since  we  left  Madera,  and  are  now 
considerably  elevated.  For  the  night  we  stop  at  a  ranch 
located  tM'enty-one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  sea- 
level.  The  lady  who  keeps  the  place  is  from  near  Mans- 
field. She  "knows  how  to  keep  a  hotel,"  and  provided 
for  our  wants  with  all  the  liberality  and  kindness  for 
which  Ohio  people  the  world  over  are  justly  distinguished. 

Like  most  of  his  kind,  our  guide,  Denny,  is  a  genius. 
There  were  but  three  of  us  in  the  wagon,  myself,  wife,  and 
Denny,  and  the  latter  regaled  us  by  the  hour  with  stories 
of  adventure  in  the  early  days  of  California,  when  lawless- 
ness was   the  rule   and  peaceful  industry  the   exception. 


28  WHAT  J  SAW, 

Denny  was  on  more  than  one  occasion  the  victim  of  "  road 
agents,"  and  in  his  quaint  manner  gave  us  the  details  of 
his  adventures,  harrowing  up  our  souls,  and  forcing  our 
imagination  into  seeing  in  every  tree  the  horrid  form  of  a 
blood-thirsty  Mexican  highwayman,  and  transformed  the 
rustle  of  a  leaf  into  the  stealthy  tread  of  a  pesky  Indian. 
I  was  tempted  to  assume  the  role  of  a  hero,  and  relate  my 
recent  adventure  with  the  Indians  in  New  Mexico,  but 
Salutha  dampened  my  ardor  by  quietly  declaring  that  she 
could  not  see  any  thing  heroic  about  it.  Strange  how  un- 
appreciative  some  women  are,  isn't  it?  One  point  that 
my  friend  Denny  made  as  a  sort  of  an  appendix  to  a  par- 
ticularly hair-raising  story  struck  me  very  forcibly.  He 
says  a  man  may  be  as  courageous  as  a  lion  and  as  nimble 
as  a  cat,  but  if  there  is  any  one  place  or  any  circumstance 
under  which  courage  and  agility  are  of  no  possible  valua- 
tion, it  is  when  two  "  road  agents,"  who  would  be  only 
too  glad  of  an  excuse  to  murder  you,  are  standing,  each 
with  a  cocked  pistol  shoved  in  your  ear.  Denny  says  the 
most  daring  man  that  ever  lived  would  suddenly  become 
as  weak  and  docile  as  a  lamb,  and  I  agree  with  him.  I 
know  I  would.  What  Salutha  would  do,  I  can  not  say, 
though  she  would  probably  make  some  remark  calculated 
to  lower  the  robber's  opinion  of  himself. 

On  Saturday  morning  we  resumed  our  tedious  ascent 
of  the  great  Sierra  Nevadas.  At  the  end  of  thirty  miles 
we  found  that  we  were  four  thousand  six  hundred  feet 
above  some  other  people  in  the  world,  and  that  during 
the  last  score  and  a  half  of  miles  we  had  risen  two  thou- 
sand three  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  or  nearly  one  hundred 
feet  to  the  mile.  The  heat  continues  intense,  even  at  this 
altitude,  reaching  ninety  degrees.  The  road  winds  won- 
derfully, over  and  around  the  mountains,  passing  through 
some  famous  pine  groves  and  parks.     The  scenery  is  one 


AND  HO W  I  SAW  IT.  29 

grand  i^anoraraa  of  startling  effects,  upon  which  the  eyes 
could  apparently  feast  with  ever  growing  enjoyment. 
These  trees  are  remarkable  specimens  of  the  handiwork 
of  nature,  ranging  in  immensity  far  beyond  even  the 
imagination  of  those  who  have  never  seen  them.  As  yet, 
understand,  we  have  not  reached  the  Big  Trees  proper. 
These  that  are  now  before  us,  though  many  of  them  ten 
feet  in  diameter  and  running  up  as  straight  as  an  arrow 
from  one  to  two  hundred  feet  before  a  limb,  is  reached, 
are  mere  arborial  pigmies  compared  with  what  we  are 
promised  further  on.  In  looking  at  these  trees,  my  mind 
naturally  took  a  practical  turn,  and  I  fancied  for  a  moment 
myself  the  possessor  of  a  few  acres  of  such  timber  within 
reach  of  a  railroad.  It  was  an  unreasonable  fancy,  how- 
ever, for  the  celebrated  railroad  to  the  moon,  projected,  I 
believe,  by  that  eminent  civil  engineer,  Jules  Verne,  was 
no  more  chimerical  than  would  be  a  scheme  to  build  a 
railroad  to  the  Big  Trees  of  California.  The  land,  how- 
ever, trees  and  all,  is  dirt  cheap,  and  can  be  purchased  in 
any  quantity  desired  for  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents 
per  acre. 

On  Saturday  evening  at  6  o'clock  we  arrived  at  Clark's 
Ranch,  six  miles  from  the  Big  Trees,  and  twenty-eight 
from  the  Yosemite  Valley.  Here  we  enjoyed  a  night's 
good  rest,  in  comfortable  beds,  and  early  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing started  over  our  last  "stage"  for  the  Valley.  Still 
the  road  continued  to  rise  up  before  us,  and  the  twenty- 
eight  miles  carried  us  two  thousand  two  hundred  feet 
higher,  and  then  down  a  fearful,  nerve-shattering  descent 
of  four  thousand  five  hundred  and  thirty  feet  into  the 
Valley.  Your  readers  need  not  expect  me  to  enter  upon 
a  florid  description  of  the  manifold  wonders  of  this  re- 
markable handiwork  of  nature,  nor  do  I  believe  that  the 
pen  of  man  has  ever  yet  approximated  the  justice  which 


30  WHAT  I  SAW, 

the  subject  demands.  I  have  read  much  of  the  grandeur, 
the  immensity,  and  the  startling  effects  of  the  Yosemite 
scenery,  but  the  most  complete,  the  most  minute  descrip- 
tion, where  the  reader  can  not  but  feel  that  the  writer's 
enthusiasm  has  transcended  his  judgment,  is  so  far  short 
of  the  reality,  as  it  bursts  suddenly  upon  the  view,  as  to 
seem  insipid  and  incomplete. 

The  view  from  Inspiration  Point,  from  whence  the  eye 
reaches  to  the  depths  below,  through  the  Valley,  resting 
for  a  moment  upon  the  cliffs  that  rise  perpendicularly  from 
the  level  beneath,  and  tracing  the  meanderings  of  the 
Merced  River,  looking  at  its  great  depth  like  a  ribbon  of 
silver,  is  nowhere  on  earth  exceeded  for  entrancing  gran- 
deur. From  this  point  is  obtained  the  most  comprehensive 
view.  The  whole  valley  lies  before  you,  and  you  are  en- 
abled to  form  a  more  nearly  correct  idea  of  its  immensity 
than  can  elsewhere  be  secured.  One  can  almost  wish  that 
the  impression  upon  the  retina  might  remain  forever,  and 
that  the  scene  could  continue  constantly  before  him. 

The  descent  is  accompanied  by  a  degree  of  peril,  more 
imaginary,  perhaps,  than  real,  that  detracts  much  from  the 
interest  of  the  scene.  Gradually  objects  in  the  valley  be- 
neath assume  more  definite  form.  The  dark  and  ill- 
defined  shapes  are  transformed  into  groves  of  trees ;  the 
river  grows  with  the  descent  until  it  becomes  a  stream  of 
respectable  dimensions,  and  finally,  Avith  a  long-drawn 
breath  of  relief,  the  tourist  finds  himself  at  the  basis  of 
the  cliff,  and  whirling  along  through  the  valley  to  the 
hotel.  At  Leidig's,  a  pleasant  place  of  entertainment 
nestled  close  beneath  the  towering  form  of  Sentinel  Rock, 
we  were  liberally  provided  with  the  comforts  of  physical 
existence,  and  in  a  short  time  were  prepared  to  feast  our 
wonderment  upon  the  scenes  that  leave  nothing  to  the 
imagination  of  the  most  speculative  mind.     As  I  stood  in 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  31 

front  of  the  hotel  and,  by  a  sweep  of  the  eye,  felt  the  im- 
pressions of  this  the  grandest  and  most  sublime  of  nature's 
earthly  handiwork,  my  practical  mind  fell  into  the  channel 
of  speculation  upon  the  causes  which  led  to  the  formation 
of  the  Yosemite  Valley.  Was  it  a  part  of  the  original 
plan  of  the  great  Creator,  or  is  it  the  result  of  some  great 
terrestrial  upheaval  ?  If  the  ^latter,  what  were  the  causes 
that  led  to  the  formation  of  this  mighty  chasm,  this  sink- 
ing to  a  depth  of  more  than  four  thousand  feet  of  a  tract 
which  is  six  miles  in  length  and  from  a  half  mile  to  a 
mile  in  width?  These  reflections  were  but  momentary, 
however,  and  my  thoughts  returned  to  an  appreciation  of 
the  fact  that  more  pleasure  was  to  be  found  in  endeavor- 
ing to  conceive  the  realities  of  the  present  than  in  specu- 
lating upon  the  theories  of  the  past.  The  walls  on  both 
sides,  and  throughout  the  extent  of  the  valley,  are  perpen- 
dicular, in  some  parts  seeming  to  project  over.  The  Mer- 
ced River  is  a  stream  of  no  inconsiderable  volume,  and  in 
the  Spring  of  the  year,  when  the  snows  are  melting  in  the 
mountains  above,  it  increases  to  the  dimensions  of  a  tor- 
rent. The  river  enters  the  valley  by  two  successive  falls, 
one  of  six  hundred  and  the  other  four  hundred  feet,  and 
traverses  the  valley  from  the  upper  end  to  the  lower, 
where  it  passes  out  through  a  rugged  gorge,  with  perpen- 
dicular walls  thousands  of  feet  in  height.  It  can  be  truth- 
fully said  that  there  are  no  features  of  superior  attractive- 
ness in  the  valley,  and  the  tourist  would  hesitate  long 
before  he  would  award  the  palm — whether  he  could  find 
more  to  arouse  his  awe  and  admiration  in  the  gigantic  El 
Capitan,  which  towers  four  thousand  six  hundred  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  valley,  or  in  the  score  or  more  of 
lofty  battlements  whose  summits  pierce  the  clouds  and 
look  down  from  their  dizzy  heights  of  nearly  a  mile. 
Sentinel  Rock,  over-topping  the  hotel,  is  three  thousand 


32  WHAT  I  SAW, 

and  forty-tliree  feet  in  height.  On  the  opposite  side  of 
the  valley,  and  perhaps  a  mile  to  the  eastward,  is  the 
North  Dome,  a  gigantic  mass  of  gray  granite,  rising  like 
a  vast  wall  formed  by  human  hands  to  a  height  of  three 
thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty-eight  feet.  Across  a 
minor  arm  or  branch  of  the  valley  from  the  North  Dome 
is  a  peculiar  formation,  called  from  its  shape  the  Half 
Dome,  the  height  of  which  is  four  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  thirty-seven  feet.  It  has  the  appearance  of  a  section 
of  a  vast  dome  which  has  been  split  perpendicularly 
through  the  center,  and  with  but  one-half  of  the  original 
remaining.  Opposite  El  Capitan  is  a  collection  of  spire- 
like formations  known  as  the  Cathedral  Rocks.  It  does 
not  require  a  violent  expansion  of  the  imagination  to  pic- 
ture these,  with  the  lower  elevations  contiguous,  as  a  vast 
church.     From  this  peculiarity  is  the  name  derived. 

These  mountain  elevations,  while  grandly  picturesque, 
are  fully  equaled  in  attractiveness  by  the  falls  which,  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  valley,  pour  the  waters  in  greater  or  less 
volume  from  the  mountains  above.  Among  these  is  the  Bri- 
dal Veil,  where  the  water  of  a  small  stream  falls  over  the 
perpendicular  rock  a  thousand  feet  in  height  and  is  blown 
about  by  the  wind  in  its  descent  until  it  forms  in  folds  of 
fleecy  lace-like  appearance.  The  Vernal  Fall  is  formed  by  a 
branch  of  the  Merced  River,  a  stream  of  considerable  vol- 
ume, falling  over  the  rocks  four  hundred  feet  without  a 
break.  Further  up  the  same  stream,  a  distance  of  perhaps 
half  a  mile,  over  a  tortuous,  rock-strewn  path,  past  a  suc- 
cession of  cascades,  is  the  Nevada  Fall.  At  this  point  the 
scene  is  one  which  no  pen  can  fitly  describe.  The  stream 
pours  in  a  dense  mass  from  the  edge  of  the  rocks  above,  a 
distance  of  six  hundred  feet,  and  dashes  into  a  mass  of 
spray  at  your  feet.  In  standing  near  the  foot  of  this  fall 
and  looking  upward,  the  water  seems  to  pour  from   the 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  33 

clouds.  The  outline  of  the  lodge  where  the  mass  of  water 
appears  to  pause  for  a  moment  as  if  hesitating  before 
making  the  terrific  leap,  is  but  dimly  defined,  and  seems 
like  a  dark  mass  of  storm- threatening  cloud.  One  of  the 
features  of  the  valley  is  Mirror  Lake,  which  lies  between 
the  North  Dome  and  Half  Dome.  It  is  a  small  collection 
of  wonderfully  pure  and  transparent  water,  the  surface  of 
which  is  as  smooth  as  glass,  and  derives  its  name  from  the 
distinctness  with  which  the  surroundings  are  reflected  in  its 
depths.  The  reflections  of  North  Dome  and  Half  Dome 
are  as  clear  and  well-defined  as  if  photographed  upon  the 
water,  and,  reversed  as  they  necessarily  are,  they  present 
a  picture  that  of  itself  is  worth  a  visit  to  the  Yosemite  to 
see.  AVe  were  fortunate  in  arriving  in  time  to  see  the  sun 
rise.  At  the  moment  for  the  orb  to  make  its  appearance 
above  the  rugged  top  of  Half  Dome  our  eyes  were  bent 
upon  the  reflection  in  the  water  beneath.  Gradually  the 
reflection,  away  down,  seemingly  thousands  of  feet  beneath 
us,  became  lighted  up,  a  golden  crescent  spanned  the  fig- 
ure, and  suddenly  the  sun  burst  forth  from  its  hiding  and 
lighted  the  waters  below  up  to  our  feet.  It  was  a  sight 
which  once  seen  can  never  be  forgotten.  Like  every  thing 
else  in  the  valley,  it  must  be  seen  to  even  approximate  an 
appreciation. 

My  impressions  of  the  valley  would  be  difficult  to  de- 
scribe. They  were  various,  combined  perhaps  of  awe- 
stricken  admiration  for  the  stupendous  works  of  nature, 
and  accrued  pity  for  the  little,  conceited  biped  who  struts 
his  brief  hour  upon  the  stage  of  life,  and,  dignified  with 
the  image  of  his  Maker,  presumes  to  cavil  at  the  works  of 
the  Almighty.  One  hour  in  the  Yosemite  Valley  is  cal- 
culated to  lessen  materially  a  thinking  man's  estimate  of 
himself  and  largely  increase  his  admiration  of  that  Archi- 
tect who  constructed  the  gigantic  work  before  him. 

3 


34  WHAT  I  SAW, 


III. 


The  Big  Trees  of  Mariposa— Some  Ideas  Upon  California  Farji- 
ixG — Prospecting  for  Gold— A  Theory  of  Interest  to  Cali- 
fornia Widows. 

Madera,  Gal.,  September  i6,  1881. 

My  last  letter,  of  which  this  is  really  a  part,  left  us  in 
the  Yosemite  Valley,  viewing  with  admiration  the  gigan- 
tic works  of  nature,  whose  counterpart  can  not  be  found 
on  earth.  I  have  stood  upon  the  Alps  in  Switzerland,  and 
gazed  awe-stricken  upon  the  wondrous  scenery  of  Mont 
Blanc  and  the  Matterhorn;  I  have  feasted  my  eyes,  en- 
tranced by  the  majesty  of  the  Mexican  Cordilleras,  but 
nothing  that  Switzerland  or  ISIexico  can  produce  equals  in 
gigantic  grandeur  the  Valley  of  Yosemite.  It  was  with  a 
feeling  of  genuine  regret  that  we  finally  turned  our  backs 
upon  the  valley  and  started  for  the  Mariposa  Big  Trees, 
stopping  for  the  night  at  Clark's  (now  Washburn's)  Ranch. 
The  next  morning  (Tuesday)  we  visited  the  Big  Trees,  six 
miles  from  the  ranch.  These  wonders  of  nature  have  been 
so  often  and  so  thoroughly  written  up  that  there  is  little 
I  could  say  that  would  be  likely  to  interest.  There  are 
about  four  hundred  trees  in  the  grove,  and  they  are  a  sight 
which  will  repay  the  visitor  for  the  many  inconveniences 
he  must  encounter  in  reaching  them.  One  of  the  trees 
has  been  cut  through  to  allow  vehicles  to  pass.  In  this 
way  an  idea  of  its  immensity  can  be  formed.  A  stage  to 
which  four  horses  are  attached  can  pass  through  the  aper- 
ture with  ease,  the  heads  of  the  leaders  not  being  through 
when  the  rear  of  the  vehicle  has  passed  within.     This  may 


AND  HO  W  I  ,SA  W  IT.  35 

seem  like  an  exaggeration,  but  it  is  an  absolute  fact.  We 
walked  around  the  grove,  and  examined  minutely  the  dif- 
ferent giants.  One  tree  had  fallen,  perhaps  more  than  a 
hundred  years  ago,  and  is  still  in  an  excellent  state  of 
preservation.  By  means  of  a  ladder  we  mounted  the 
huge  trunk  and  walked  the  length  of  it,  more  than  two 
hundred  feet.  An  ordinary  four-horse  road  wagon  could 
easily  be  driven  the  whole  distance.  The  antiquity  of 
these  giants  of  the  forest  is  almost  beyond  intelligent  com- 
putation, but  the  annular  rings  forming  the  trunk  of  the 
recumbent  monster  have  been  counted  by  some  curious 
individual  blessed  with  a  liberal  endowment  of  patience, 
and  they  were  found  to  number  more  than  six  thousand. 
How  long  since  the  tree  was  felled  is,  of  course,  unknown, 
but  is  supposed  to  be  not  less  than  two  hundred  years. 
The  wood  of  the  trees  is  of  light  texture,  its  specific  grav- 
ity being  no  greater  than  cedar,  which  it  resembles  in 
appearance.  It  is  said  to  more  successfully  resist  decay 
than  does  cedar,  and  this  resistance  is  assigned  as  one  evi- 
dence of  the  great  time  that  has  elapsed  since  the  tree  was 
felled.  At  one  or  two  points  it  has  commenced  to  decay. 
Another  suggestion  is  found  in  the  growth  of  other  trees 
that  have  evidently,  from  their  position,  sprung  into  exist- 
ence since  the  huge  monster  was  torn  up  by  the  roots.  Thus 
it  appears  that  this  particular  tree  is  considerably  more  than 
six  thousand  years  old.  The  mind  can  scarcely  realize  it. 
If  we  accept  the  story  of  man's  creation,  as  laid  down  in 
the  book  of  Genesis,  this  tree  had  passed  the  adolescence  of 
shrubhood  when  the  archangel  Michael  served  the  summary 
writ  of  ejectment  that  deprived  our  foreparents  of  the  de- 
lights of  Paradise.  This  recumbent  giant  was  of  massive 
growth  when  the  lightnings  of  the  Almighty  played  about 
the  summit  of  Mt.  Sinai  and  the  law  was  delivered  to  Moses, 
and  was  a  monarch  of  the  forest  when  Christ  taught  his 


36  WHAT  I  SAW, 

disciples  and  laid  the  foundation  of  the  material  and 
spiritual  blessings  that  have  rested  as  a  benison  upon  the 
civilized  world.  Further  evidence  of  the  great  anti- 
quity of  these  trees  can  be  found  in  the  fact  that  they  are 
of  exceedingly  slow  growth.  A  friend  tells  me  that  at  the 
Calaveras  grove,  some  miles  from  the  Mariposa  group,  a 
small  shrub  has  been  carefully  watched  and  protected 
during  the  past  seventeen  years,  and  in  that  time  it  has 
grown  not  to  exceed  two  feet.  On  one  of  the  largest  of 
the  trees  in  Calaveras  county  are  marks  of  fire ;  the  sides 
of  the  monster  are  scarred  by  the  effects  of  the  flames. 
Standing  close  by  is  a  tree  of  smaller  growth,  but  evidently 
not  less  than  a  thousand  years  old,  that  bears  no  such 
marks.  Evidently  the  fire  by  which  the  larger  tree  suf- 
fered occurred  more  than  ten  centuries  ago.  I  have  heard 
a  theory  advanced  by  geologists  concerning  these  trees 
that  is  curious  if  not  valuable.  It  is  to  the  effect  that 
these  Sequoia  gigantea  composed  the  original  flora  of  this 
part  of  the  earth,  and  that  the  specimens  extant  were  pre- 
served from  the  effects  of  the  terrestrial  upheaval  that 
destroyed  all  the  others.  The  theory,  like  most  other  pet 
ideas  of  these  students  of  the  speculative,  is  explained  at 
length  in  a  manner  calculated  to  mystify  and  bewilder  the 
hearer  rather  than  instruct  him.  As  with  otli«er  theories 
which  they  advance,  they  succeed  best  in  proving  that 
they  do  not  know  any  thing  about  it. 

We  finally  bid  the  giants  adieu  and  descended  from 
those  upper  regions  until  we  reached  the  town  of  Fresno, 
a  peculiar  little  place  where  many  peculiar  things  are  done 
in  peculiar  ways.  We  stopped  there  an  hour,  to  feed  the 
team,  and  I  assure  you  those  sixty  minutes  were  quite  long 
enough  for  me.  Salutha,  however,  with  that  chilling  in- 
difference to  disagreeable  surroundings  which  distinguishes 
many  of  the  perverse  sex,  absolutely  enjoyed  it.     During 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  37 

the  hoTir  we  remained  there  we  witnessed  a  court  scene 
which  would  have  appealed  irresistibly  to  the  sense  of  the 
ridiculous  possessed  by  Mark  Twain  or  Bret  Harte.  A 
Spanish  woman,  whose  knowledge  of  the  English  language 
was  as  limited  as  the  court's  notion  of  Spanish,  was  arrested 
on  the  charge  of  selling  liquor  to  the  Indians.  In  Cali- 
fornia murder  is  considered  a  virtue  compared  with  fur- 
nishing liquor  to  Indians,  and  I  believe  the  statutes  of 
the  State  make  it  a  felony.  The  court-house  is  a  rough 
structure,  about  twelve  feet  square,  the  walls  of  pine  slabs 
and  the  roof  of  unevenly  split  clapboards.  The  judge 
was  the  proud  proprietor  of  a  neighboring  gambling  hell, 
and  the  six  jurymen  about  equally  divided  between  saloon- 
keepers and  miners,  who,  in  slouch  hats,  top-boots,  and 
overalls,  deliberated  as  solemnly  if  not  as  learnedly  as  a 
Marshall  or  a  Bacon.  The  poor  defendant  had  no  lawyer, 
and  I  was  half  tempted  to  enlist  in  her  behalf  myself,  but 
my  limited  knowledge  of  the  law  was  only  equaled  by  my 
inability  to  speak  the  poor  woman's  language.  The  guide's 
warning  that  time  was  up  and  we  must  be  on  the  way 
caused  us  to  forego  a  knowledge  of  the  verdict,  but  I  have 
not  the  least  doubt  that  the  defendant  was  duly  convicted 
and  appropriately  punished.  The  court  was  evidently  or- 
ganized for  the  purpose  of  conviction,  and  my  sympathies, 
even  when  combined  with  those  of  my  worthy  partner,  did 
not  seem  to  have  any  weight. 

We  passed  on  forty  miles  further,  where  we  stopped  for 
the  night  at  a  ranch  known  as  Coarse  Gold  Gulch.  The 
bed  of  the  creek  in  the  vicinity  was  at  one  time  a  "  big 
bonanza"  for  placer  mining,  but  has  long  since  been 
worked  out,  although  there  is  still  gold  found  sometimes 
in  limitedly  paying  quantities.  Several  profitable  mines 
are  located  in  the  vicinity.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however, 
there  is  more  gold  in  the  timber  of  the  Sierras  than  there 


38  WHAT  I  SAW, 

is  in  the  soil,  if  it  was  only  possible  to  get  it  to  market. 
Such  timber  can  not  be  found  elsewhere  in  the  world,  but 
unfortunately  it  is  as  inaccessible  almost  as  the  products 
of  the  mountains  in  the  moon.  During  our  recent  trip 
we  saw  enough  timber  of  excellent  quality  rotting  on  the 
ground  to  run  every  saw-mill  in  Christendom  for  a  year. 
The  fact  that  we  were  provided  Math  a  private  conveyance 
gave  us  many  advantages  over  other  tourists.  We  moved 
at  our  leisure  and  enjoyed  the  opportunity  for  viewing 
scenery,  collecting  curiosities,  etc.,  that  travelers  by  public 
conveyances  are  denied. 

On  the  way  down  the  mountains  we  passed  numberless 
ranches  well  stocked  with  sheep  and  cattle,  and  occasionally 
hogs.  All  the  stock  seemed  in  prime  condition,  and  I  was 
very  favorably  impressed  with  the  value  of  the  foot-hills 
of  the  Sierras  as  a  stock  country.  The  sheep  shearing  now 
is  in  full  progress.  One  ranch  we  visited  had  a  stock  of 
one  hundred  thousand  sheep,  from  which  was  taken  half 
a  million  pounds  of  wool.  You  Ohio  farmers  who  own 
flocks  of  four  or  five  hundred  would  be  considered  but 
small  stock  men  in  this  region.  Wool  commands  from 
ten  to  fourteen  cents  per  pound.  This  seems  like  a  small 
price,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  expense  of  rais- 
ing sheep  in  this  country  amounts  to  little  or  nothing. 
The  stock  does  not  require  any  housing  or  feeding,  the 
pasture  being  ample  at  all  seasons.  Besides,  in  California 
two  clips  of  wool  are  made  each  year.  The  one  ranch  of 
which  I  am  speaking  will  this  year  produce  more  pounds 
of  wool  than  many  counties  in  the  State  of  Ohio. 

In  the  foot-hills  we  found  many  Digger  Indians,  some 
of  whom  are  the  owners  of  small  ranches,  and  seem  to 
have  absorbed  a  modicum  of  civilization.  Intermarried 
with  these  Indians  are  quite  a  number  of  the  old  "  forty- 
niners."     Salutha  suggested,  and  I  here  announce  that  she 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  39 

alone  Is  responsible  for  the  idea,  that  perhaps  in  this 
curious  amalgamation  can  be  found  the  real  reason  why 
the  families  of  so  many  of  the  earlier  California  emigrants 
never  heard  from  them  afterward.  It  must  be  a  pleasing 
reflection  for  such  to  think  that  perhaps  the  husband  and 
father  whom  they  have  mourned  as  dead  for  many  years 
is  the  head  of  a  large  and  interesting  family  of  half-breed 
papooses,  among  the  foot-hills  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas.  I 
know  there  are  many  such  families  thereabout,  but  whether 
the  heads  are  stray  husbands  from  "the  States,"  I,  of 
course,  am  unable  to  say. 

On  the  way  down  from  the  mountain  we  passed  several 
gold  diggings,  and  had  our  cupidity  aroused  by  seeing  a 
man  pick  up  on  the  bank  of  a  creek  a  lump  valued  at 
$7.50.  My  companion  at  once  became  imbued  with  the 
idea  that  there  was  a  fortune  within  her  grasp,  and  would 
not  be  content  until  we  had  started  out  on  a  prospecting 
tour.  I  tried  to  discourage  her,  but  I  might  have  known 
better.  She  can 't  be  discouraged.  During  the  last  twenty- 
five  years  I  have  made  several  efforts,  and  my  word  for  it 
it  can  not  be  done.  So  we  started.  The  first  disagreeable 
adventure  was  the  discovery  of  a  tarantula,  as  big  as  a 
saucer,  almost,  on  my  lady's  hat.  This  dampened  the 
ardor  of  her  thirst  for  gold  a  little,  but  the  climax  was 
reached  when  she  stepped  upon  a  pesky  rattlesnake.  Now, 
she  has  as  great  a  distaste  for  snakes  as  I  have  for  Indians, 
and  the  gold  prospecting  expedition  was  suddenly  aban- 
doned. Hunting  gold  may  be  pleasant  enough,  but  find- 
ing rattlesnakes  is  decidedly  objectionable.  Having  slaked 
our  thirst  for  crude  gold,  we  again  called  into  service  the 
ever  faithful  and  always  ready  Denny,  and  passed  on  to 
the  fig  ranch  mentioned  in  my  last,  where  we  feasted  roy- 
ally on  figs  while  listening  to  several  additional  chapters 
in  the  life  history  of  the  loquacious  landlady.     The  afore- 


40  WHAT  I  SAW, 

said  landlady  is  a  wonderful  woman,  and  no  mistake.  If 
all  the  stories  she  tells  are  truthful,  Siubad  the  Sailor  was 
a  "  country  bumpkin "  compared  with  her.  If  they  are 
not  true,  she  is  still  a  remarkable  woman,  possessed  of  a 
wonderful  genius  for  invention. 

I  have  now,  in  my  crude  and  perhaps  unsatisfactory 
way,  carried  those  who  care  to  read  my  not  very  connected 
story  to  the  Yosemite  and  the  Big  Trees  and  back  to 
Madera.  We  traveled,  under  the  careful  guidance  of 
Denny,  with  our  own  team,  a  distance  of  two  hundred  and 
twelve  miles,  up  and  over  the  Sierra  Nevada  mountains 
and  back  here  in  six  days.  It  may  be  that  some  of  my 
readers  will  desire  to  visit  the  Valley  and  Trees  and,  if 
such  is  the  case,  they  may  be  thankful  for  a  little  advice 
from  one  who  has  been  there.  First,  whichever  route  you 
select  in  coming  to  California,  whether  by  the  Southern 
or  Central  road,  come  to  Madera  as  the  best  point  to  start 
from.  Here  you  will  find  excellent  hotel  accommodations 
at  reasonable  rates.  In  making  your  arrangements  for  the 
trip  to  the  Valley,  shun  the  public  stages  as  you  MM)uld 
rattlesnakes  or  Indians.  You  can  procure  a  good  team 
with  excellent  guide  for  the  necessary  six  days'  trip  for 
sixty  dollars,  which  with  ten  dollars'  toll  and  perhaps 
thirty  dollars  more  for  hotel  bills,  will  enable  two  persons 
to  get  through  on  one  hundred  dollars,  a  saving  of  at 
least  a  hundred  dollars  over  the  cost  by  stage. 

To-morrow  we  are  off  for  San  Francisco,  and  thence 
to  Japan  by  steamer. 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  41 


IV. 


From  Madera  to  San  Fraxcisco  —  The  Pacific  Coast  as  a 
Farming  Country — The  Wheat  Production — San  Francisco 
Hotels — Off  for  Japan. 

San  Francisco,  September  jg,  i8Si. 

On  Friday  last  we  left  our  good  friends  of  Madera, 
including  our  ever  faithful  guide  Denny,  for  this  city  and 
beyond.  The  San  Joaquin  Valley,  which  lies  between  the 
Sierra  Nevadas  and  the  Coast  Range,  say  fifty  to  seventy- 
five  miles  in  width,  is  the  great  wheat  belt  of  California. 
They  do  farming  here  on  a  scale  that  would  test  the  cre- 
dulity of  a  Buckeye  agriculturist.  We  saw  wheat  fields 
that  extended  for  miles,  and  millions  of  sacks  of  grain 
piled  up  ready  to  be  drawn  to  some  station  for  shipment. 
Here  they  can,  if  necessary,  leave  the  wheat  lying  out  in 
the  fields  for  months  in  this  way,  as  no  one  seems  desirous 
of  stealing  that  which  is  so  plenty,  and  previous  to  the 
first  of  November,  there  will  not  be  rain  or  dew  enough 
to  rust  a  knife  blade.  During  our  trip  up  this  valley 
we  saw  more  wheat  than  any  Ohio  county  will  raise  in 
five  years. 

"What  is  called  hay  in  this  country  would  be  contempt- 
uously cast  aside  by  the  Eastern  farmers  as  a  very  poor 
quality  of  useless  straw.  But,  like  many  other  things  in 
this  world,  and  in  California  in  particular,  the  appearance 
of  this  hay  is  very  deceptive,  as  indicated  by  the  fat,  sleek 
horses  and  cattle  which  are  fed  with  it,  and  which  the 
farmers  of  Ohio  can  not  largely  excel.    The  hay  is  nothing 


42  WHAT  I  SAW, 

more  than  barley,  cut  before  it  is  quite  ripened.  This  is 
baled  and  mainly  sent  up  into  the  mountains,  where  little 
is  raised. 

The  fact  that  it  does  not  rain  for  seven  or  eight  months, 
renders  it  not  a  very  pleasant  place  to  live.  Just  now  the 
surface  of  the  earth  seems  almost  completely  pulverized, 
and  the  dust  settles  upon  every  thing  and  penetrates  any- 
where that  air  is  not  excluded.  I  must  say  1  am  not  ab- 
sorbed in  admiration  for  such  a  country. 

After  a  brief  and  pleasant  ride,  we  reached  San  Fran- 
cisco, and,  in  obedience  to  the  recommendation  of  a  friend, 
went  to  the  Lick  House.  The  consequence  is  I  am  out  a 
dollar  in  money  and  a  vast  amount  of  temper.  The  latter 
I  can  spare,  as  I  have  a  large  reserve  supply.  The  dollar, 
however,  gravels  me  not  a  little.  Why,  the  wretch  who 
presides  with  such  a  lordly  air  over  the  fortunes  of  his 
unfortunate  guests  had  the  grim  audacity,  the  monumental 
impudence,  the  adamantine  cheek  to  charge  myself  and 
companion  a  dollar  for  washing  our  hands  and  faces  in  his 
economical  caravansary.  I  "  kicked  "  vigorously,  but  all 
the  unmistakable  evidences  of  disgust  which  exhaled  from 
every  pore,  had  no  more  effect  upon  the  fellow  than  would 
a  feather  blown  against  Mont  Blanc.  I  then  made  up 
my  mind  to  make  that  dollar  the  most  costly  that  was 
ever  taken  in  by  the  concern.  We  transferred  ourselves 
at  once  to  a  square,  good  house,  where  we  are  now  com- 
fortably domiciled.  It  is  the  E-uss  House,  where  travelers 
are  treated  like  gentlemen  and  only  asked  to  pay  two  dol- 
lars per  day. 

Our  vessel  should  have  sailed  on  Saturday,  but  is  de- 
tained until  to-morrow.  We  will  be  able,  however,  to 
pass  our  time  very  pleasantly.  I  have  some  acquaintances 
here  in  the  wool  trade,  and  some  friends  whose  acquaint- 
ance we  formed  when  here  five  years  ago.     There  is  little 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  43 

that  we  care  to  see  in  the  city,  as  myself  and  wife  pretty 
thoroughly  exhausted  its  attractive  points  at  that  time. 
Besides,  we  have  felt  the  necessity  for  rest.  For  fifteen 
days  we  have  been  constantly  moving,  six  of  them  devoted 
to  rattling  over  the  roads  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains 
in  a  spring  wagon.  I  would  recommend  any  of  my  read- 
ers who  may  be  suifering  from  indigestion  to  adopt  a  simi- 
lar course.  When  I  left  home  I  was  scarcely  able  to 
travel,  and  now  possess  an  ajDpetite  that  has  threatened  a 
famine  throughout  the  Pacific  coast. 

We  took  a  peep  into  Chinatown,  and  both  remarked 
the  improvement  in  the  condition  of  the  people  since  our 
visit  in  '76.  I  hope  some  of  our  good  missionaries  have 
done  something  for  them. 

The  weather  here  at  this  season  is  delightful,  the  tem- 
perature ranging  from  sixty-five  in  the  morning  to  sev- 
enty-five at  noon. 

While  coming  overland  via  the  Central  Road  five  years 
ago,  we  stopped  at  Humboldt  Station,  where  we  became 
acquainted  with  Meacham  and  wife  and  daughter,  the  same 
who  afterward  suffered  so  terribly  at  the  hands  of  the  Ute 
Indians.  The  last  two  called  on  us  to-day,  and  aided  us 
in  pleasantly  passing  a  few  hours. 

Yesterday  (Sunday)  was  a  beautiful  day,  and  we  found 
its  observance  much  more  general  than  upon  our  previous 
visit.  This  I  am  glad  to  see,  but  at  the  same  time  could 
not  fail  to  observe  the  preparations  that  were  being  made 
for  a  public  show  in  the  afternoon  at  Woodward's  Garden. 
When  we  were  here  before  Mr.  Woodward  was  in  the 
zenith  of  his  glory,  managing  his  Sunday  shows  with  a 
large  degree  of  success.  Now,  he  has  gone  to  his  Maker 
to  render  an  account  of  the  matter.  The  Garden  still 
continues,  however,  and  the  name  of  Woodward  will  never 
perish  in  San  Francisco.     What  Shaw's  Garden  is  to  St. 


44  WHAT  I  SAW, 

Louis,  Woodward's  is  to  San  Francisco.  Despite  the  ob- 
jectionable features  of  the  Sunday  entertainments,  it  is  a 
magnificent  collection  of  countless  attractions  for  the  eye 
and  mind,  and  is  now,  I  believe,  the  property  of  the  city — 
a  munificent  gift  from  the  public-spirited  Woodward.  It 
requires  a  vast  variety  of  people,  of  diiferent  ideas  and 
divergent  theories  of  life,  to  constitute  a  M'orld,  and  it  is  a 
wise  provision  of  nature  that  such  diiferences  should  exist, 
and  perhaps  we  should  not  too  severely  criticise  those  who 
find  their  happiness  in  Sunday  amusements,  such  as  others 
view  with  distaste.  However,  I  am  not  a  moralizer,  and 
prefer  that  people  should  follow  the  bent  of  their  own  in- 
clinations; which  is  doubtless  very  kind  in  me,  particu- 
larly as  they  will  do  it  any  way. 

At  twenty  minutes  past  five  last  evening  we  had  quite  a 
perceptible  earthquake  shock,  lasting  two  or  three  seconds. 
Salutha  was  reading,  and  I  was  lying  on  an  adjacent  sofa. 
But  I  did  n't  lie  there  long.  If  the  pesky,  bouncing, 
swaying  motion  had  continued  much  longer,  I  honestly  be- 
lieve I  would  have  been  frightened.  As  it  was,  I  scarcely 
had  time  to  think  until  it  was  all  over.  This  was  the 
third  earthquake  I  have  felt,  one  in  Cuba,  and  one  in 
Mexico,  previous  to  this;  The  people  here  do  not  mind  a 
little  shake  once  in  a  while,  but  we  have  not  yet  got  used 
to  them.  It  is  possible  that  before  our  tour  of  thirty 
thousand  miles  is  completed  we  will  have  ample  oppor- 
tunity to  study  the  peculiarities  of  earthquakes  and  other  de- 
vices for  irritating  the  nerves  of  peacefully  disposed  people. 

To-day  (Sunday)  my  wife  and  I  have  been  having  a 
long  talk  with  a  Mrs.  Ramey,  of  San  Luis  Obispo,  where 
she  and  her  husband  are  located  upon  a  ranch  of  thirty- 
five  thousand  acres,  about  twenty  miles  from  anywhere 
else.  They  rent  the  ground  for  wheat  purposes,  paying 
the  old  Mexican  owner  a  rental  of  one-fifth  of  the  wheat 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  45 

and  barley  in  the  bag.  They  use  headers  to  gather  the 
wheat.  The  lady,  however,  expresses  herself  as  badly  dissat- 
isfied, owing  to  her  isolated  condition,  the  nearest  white  lady 
being  distant  twenty-five  miles.  She  is  anxious  to  return 
to  her  old  home,  at  Xenia,  Ohio,  and  declares  that  often  she 
is  driven  almost  to  desperation  by  the  loneliness  of  her 
condition.  They  have  been  on  the  coast  for  eight  years; 
but  Mrs.  Ramey,  who  is  an  intelligent  woman,  says  their 
experience  has  not  been  one  of  entire  success,  and  advises 
those  who  are  in  the  East,  and  have  any  thing  to  lose,  to 
stay  there,  as  here  the  expenses  keep  up  with  the  receipts. 
I,  for  my  part,  can  not  see  so  many  chances  to  make 
monev  here  as  manv  do.  Of  course,  vou  hear  of  some 
rich  strikes,  but  you  never  hear  of  the  thousands  of  per- 
sons who  come  to  California  and  fail  to  make  a  success 
of  the  venture. 

If  we  had  known  of  the  leisure  at  our  disposal  before 
the  sailing  of  the  steamer,  we  Avould  have  visited  the 
Geysers.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  we  will  sec  more 
than  enough  water  before  we  look  upon  America  again. 

To-morrow  (Monday)  we  sail  for  Japan.  I  will  write 
from  Yokohama,  but  you  will  not  be  able  to  hear  from  us 
for  perhaps  fifty  days,  as  it  takes  twenty-four  days  over, 
and  of  course  the  same  back. 


46  WHAT  I  SAW, 


V. 


On  the  Pacific — Incidents  of  the  Voyage — A  Brief  Dissertation 
ON  THE  Chinese,  Supplemented  by  an  Unprofessional  Trea- 
tise ON  Navigation — Arrival  in  Japan. 

Steamer  Gaelic,  on  the  Pacific,         1 
A  T/iousand  Allies  from  Anywhere,  j 

As  announced  in  my  last,  written  from  San  Francisco, 
we  sailed  from  that  port  on  the  20th  of  September  on  the 
steamer  Gaelic  for  Yokohama  and  around  the  world.  The 
scenes  attendant  upon  the  sailing  of  the  vessel  differed 
materially  from  those  which  can  be  viewed  almost  any  day 
upon  the  docks  of  New  York.  There  were  none  of  those 
lingering  farewells  to  departing  friends  that  have  a  tend- 
ency to  make  a  j)erson  feel  as  if  he  were  about  to  play  a 
leading  part  in  a  funeral  rather  than  enjoy  the  strange 
sights  of  foreign  lands.  Aside  from  the  herd  of  Chinese 
which  we  have  now  securely  stowed  away  below,  the  prep- 
arations for  sailing  were  conducted  in  an  orderly  and 
decorous  manner.  These  ISIongolians,  however,  are  a 
curious  collection,  of  whose  characters  I  might  speak  at 
length  could  I  but  convince  myself  that  they  have  any. 
So  far  as  my  experience  with  them  extends,  they  are  a 
sorry  set.  I  am  informed  that  the  Chinese  who  confer 
upon  America  the  inestimable  blessing  of  their  presence 
belong  to  the  lower  classes  of  the  citizens  of  the  Flowery 
Kingdom.  From  my  heart,  I  hope  so.  For  the  credit 
of  the  Chinese  people  and  nation,  I  trust  I  have  not  been 
misinformed.  These  creatures  are  quite  devoted  to  what 
they  consider  their  religious  duties,  which  devotion  appears 


AND  HO W  I  SAW  IT.  47 

mainly  to  consist  of  eiforts  to  appease  the  wrath  of  the 
evil  spirit  that  in  their  case  corresponds  with  the  Satan  of 
Christianity.  I  do  not  claim  a  sufficiently  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  his  Satanic  Majesty  to  form  an  intelligent 
estimate  of  his  likes  and  dislikes ;  but  if  he  can  look  upon 
a  Chinese  coolie  with  j^leased  eyes,  he  is  doubly  entitled 
to  the  distrust  of  every  decent  man  and  woman  in  the 
universe.  This  appeasement  of  the  wrath  of  the  evil  spirit 
is  accomplished  by  scattering  upon  the  sea  bits  of  j^eculiar 
paper.  The  ceremony  was  performed  at  the  outset  of  the 
voyage,  and  has  been  repeated  at  intervals  since.  Just 
why  or  how  this  mummery  has  an  eifect  upon  the  Evil  One 
has  never  been  explained  to  me.  It  appears  in  its  eifect, 
however,  to  be  eminently  satisfactory,  as  the  Mongolians 
claim  that  this  profuse  distribution  of  particles  of  paper 
has  propitiated  the  spirit  to  an  extent  which  guarantees  us 
a  safe  and  pleasant  voyage.  We  may,  while  feeling  no  con- 
fidence in  the  means  adopted,  express  the  hope  that  the  con- 
clusion arrived  at  is  a  correct  one.  We  have  four  hundred 
and  seventy  of  these  unregenerate  heathen  on  board.  Three 
have  died  since  the  voyage  began,  but  we  still  have  them, 
as  the  contract  with  the  steamship  company  provides  that 
each  Chinaman  is  to  be  delivered  in  China,  dead  or  alive, 
as  the  case  may  be.  Each  corpse  is  embalmed  and  packed 
away  among  the  freight,  keeping  company  with  the  osseous 
remains  of  numerous  Celestials  who  Avere  taught  in  life 
that  the  bliss  of  eternity  is  vouchsafed  only  to  those  whose 
bones  find  their  final  resting  place  in  the  soil  of  the  Flow- 
ery Kingdom.  Our  Chinese  passengers  are  fed  upon  rice 
and  a  weak  coffee,  and  are  transported  for  fifty  dollars  each. 
Slowly  our  gigantic  steamer  passed  out  of  the  harbor 
of  San  Francisco,  through  the  masses  of  shipping  from 
almost  every  part  of  the  world ;  past  the  navy-yard  at 
Mare  Island  and  the  outer  forts,  through  the  Golden  Gate, 


48  WHAT  I  SAW, 

and  out  upon  the  broad  expanse  of  the  Pacific.  Gradually 
the  shore  faded  from  view,  and  it  was  with  a  feeling  of 
sadness  that  we  stood  upon  the  deck  and  watched  our  na- 
tive land  sink  apparently  beneath  the  waves.  Our  minds 
were  thronged  with  the  hopes  and  fears,  the  incidents, 
pleasant  and  unpleasant,  that  must  lie  between  us  and  the 
time  when  we  again  may  look  upon  our  beloved  America. 
Perhaps  it  may  be  our  lot  never  again  to  view  our  home — 
never  again  to  tread  the  land  of  our  birth  and  feel  the 
pride  that  swells  the  breast  of  every  true  American  citizen 
when  beneath  the  protecting  folds  of  the  beautiful  emblem 
of  liberty,  America's  flag  of  the  free. 

The  first  duty  of  a  sea  voyager  after  losing  sight  of 
land  is  to  study  his  fellow-passengers.  We  have  in  the 
cabin  ten  passengers.  We  have  with  us  a  minister  of  the 
English  Cliurch  and  four  other  Englishmen,  one  Italian, 
and  two  Scotchmen.  My  companion  and  myself  are  the 
only  Americans.  There  is  but  one  lady  besides  Mrs.  Con- 
verse. AVe  have  the  best  room  on  the  boat,  and  are  very 
kindly  treated.  Just  here  I  would  like  some  older  traveler 
than  myself  to  tell  why  it  is  that  Englishmen  as  a  class 
are  not  pleasant  traveling  companions.  I  have  never 
found  them  companionable  to  the  extent  that  other  nation- 
alities are.  They  seemingly  are  impressed  with  the  idea 
that  Englishmen  are  chosen  by  the  Almighty  to  lead  and 
instruct  other  people,  and  are  ever  ready  with  gratuitously 
proffered  advice,  which  they  consider  it  every  other  per- 
son's duty  to  religiously  follow. 

Our  vessel  sails  under  the  British  flag,  and  is  a  com- 
modious structure,  three  hundred  and  sixty  feet  in  length, 
and  rides  the  water  like — like — well,  just  like  any  other 
vessel  of  equal  size,  staunchness,  and  careful  management. 
The  crew  consists  of  ninety  men,  many  of  them  Chinese. 
These,  together  with  twelve  cabin  and  four  hundred  and 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  49 

seventy  steerage  passengers,  make  a  total  of  five  hundred 
and  seventy-two  souls  who  have  on  this  occasion  tempted 
the  treacherous  ocean ;  that  is,  if  Chinamen  have  souls, 
and  I  guess  they  have. 

Our  daily  routine  is  monotonous.  We  rise  at  6  and 
have  a  cup  of  coffee;  breakfast  at  9;  lunch  at  1,  and  din- 
ner at  6.  The  table  is  elegant.  A  complement  of  animals 
are  carried  with  us,  and  daily  slaughter  provides  us  with 
fresh  meat.  Notwithstanding  this  there  is  a  constant  feel- 
ing of  uneasiness  beneath  the  waistband  that,  while  it  does 
not  at  all  times  destroy  the  appetite,  nevertheless  causes  one 
to  long  for  an  hour  of  good  solid  ground  beneath  his  feet. 
Our  first  Sunday  out  was  a  day  of  calm,  and  at  half-past 
10  we  were  assembled  in  the  cabin  to  listen  to  religious 
services,  conducted  by  the  English  parson.  The  service 
was  opened  by  the  singing  of  the  hymn,  "  Nearer,  my  God, 
to  Thee."  The  preaching  was  very  appropriate  to  the 
occasion,  and  not  a  heart  but  went  out  in  devout  thank- 
fulness to  God  for  our  preservation  from  the  dangers  of  a 
sea  voyage. 

I  devote  much  of  my  time  to  becoming  posted  upon 
Japan,  and  have  laid  out  a  land  trip  through  the  empire 
of  two  hundred  miles,  in  which  I  will  visit  the  temples 
and  such  other  points  of  interest  as  may  be  within  my 
reach. 

One  incident  occurred  the  other  day,  which,  though 
perhaps  not  unusual,  possessed  a  novelty  for  us.  The  look- 
out announced  whales  in  view.  I  sprang  to  the  deck  as 
hurriedly  as  if  the  alarm  had  been  one  of  fire,  and  there 
in  plain  view  to  the  leeward  were  two  or  three  huge 
whales,  sporting  as  playfully  as  minnows  in  an  aquarium. 

On  Monday  the  captain  reported  that  we  were  thirteen 
hundred  miles  from  San  Francisco,  and  each  revolution 
of  the  wheel  will  continue  to  carry  us   further  until  we 

4 


50  WHAT  I  SAW, 

reach  Singapore,  -which  is  just   half-way  around.      After 
leaving  that  place  we  will  each  day  be  drawing  nearer  home. 

We  do  not,  as  might  be  supposed,  sail  directly  from 
San  Francisco  to  Yokohama.  Instead,  we  angle  north  as 
far  as  the  forty-fifth  degree  of  latitude,  and  then  bear 
south  again  before  reaching  Japan.  The  reason  of  this 
may  seem  a  little  obscure  at  first  glance,  but  a  moment's 
study  of  the  conformation  of  a  globe  will  explain  it.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  we  gain  fully  six  hundred  miles  by  this 
apparent  "going  around  Robin  Hood's  barn."  If  any  of 
my  readers  will  locate  San  Francisco  and  Yokohama  on  a 
globe,  and  then  measure  with  a  string  the  direct  line  and 
also  the  route  I  have  indicated,  the  diiference  will  become 
apparent.  If  Brother  Jasper,  the  colored  minister  who 
can  not  be  convinced  that  the  world  is  really  round,  was 
Avith  us,  he  would  find  many  things  that  would  tend  to 
force  conviction  upon  his  mind. 

Another  curious  thing  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  voyager  is 
the  fact  that  he  loses  a  day.  As  I  am  not  just  now  de- 
livering a  dissertation  upon  navigation  I  will  not  enter 
upon  an  extended  explanation  of  the  why  of  this.  The 
reason  will  be  apparent  to  any  one  who  reflects  that  in 
passing  around  the  world  to  the  west  we  follow  the  course 
of  the  sun,  or,  more  strictly  speaking,  move  against  the 
revolution  of  the  earth,  and  it  becomes  evident  that  a 
day  is  lost  as  thoroughly  during  the  journey  as  if  we  had, 
like  Puck,  "  put  a  girdle  'round  the  earth  in  forty  min- 
utes." To  make  it  more  clear,  suppose  you  start  from 
New  York  on  Sunday  and  pass  around  the  earth  in  • 
twenty-four  hours.  As  you  follow  the  sun  precisely  dur- 
ing the  entire  route,  it  would  still  be  Sunday  to  you  upon 
your  return  to  the  starting-point,  no  night  Having  inter- 
vened, but  it  would  be  Monday  to  those  you  left  behind. 
The  same  is  true  if  your  voyage   occuj)ies  an   unlimited 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  51 

time  instead  of  twenty-four  hours.  This  day  is  dropped 
out  of  the  calendar  on  crossing  the  one-hundred  and 
eightieth  parallel  of  longitude,  or  just  half-way  around 
from  Greenwich,  England,  the  point  from  which  calcula- 
tions are  usually  made. 

There !  I  guess  that  will  do  for  a  brief  lecture  on  nav- 
igation. As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  can  tell  much  more  about 
navigating  the  highways  and  byways  of  Ohio  than  I  can 
of  the  "  pathless  desert  of  the  sea." 

This  voyage  is  becoming  a  trifle  monotonous.  It  is  a 
rare  thing  to  meet  a  vessel,  and  so  far  upon  the  trip  we 
have  seen  no  evidence  of  the  continued  existence  of  the 
human  race,  beyond  the  presence  of  those  who  bear  us  im- 
mediate company.  This  is  the  longest  continuous  ocean 
voyage  within  the  reach  of  commerce.  From  the  time 
of  leaving  San  Francisco  until  we  sight  the  head-lands  of 
Japan,  a  distance  of  more  than  five  thousand  miles,  we  see 
no  land.  The  next  longest  is  from  England  to  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  but  there  the  vessels  stop  at  the  Cape  de 
Verde  Islands. 

But  even  an  ocean  voyage  is  not  wholly  devoid  of 
exciting  experiences,  and  we  had  one  the  other  day,  our 
tenth  day  out.  About  10  A.  M.  our  vessel  was  struck  by  a 
cyclone — not  one  of  those  Ohio  wind  storms  that  occasion- 
ally blow  shingles  from  dilapidated  roofs,  but  a  regular 
hurricane,  that  would  blow  the  hair  off  a  man's  head  in 
the  twinkling  of  a  blind  eye.  The  sensation  produced 
upon  the  mind  of  the  writer  was  such  as  might  be  ex- 
pected. I  was  scared !  frightened !  terrified !  I  tell  you 
the  Indians  of  Arizona  and  the  earthquakes  of  San  Fran- 
cisco are  children's  toys  compared  with  a  cyclone  at  sea 
when  it  once  gets  earnestly  down  to  work.  Sails  were 
torn  into  shreds,  and  the  sea  ran  "  mountains  high  " — that 
is,  little  mountains.     The  waves  looked  like  massive  hill 


52  WHAT  I  SAW, 

ranges  capped  witli  snow.  There  was  never  any  thing 
more  fully  belied  its  name  than  the  Pacific  Ocean.  I  was 
sick  for  three  days  afterward.  Mrs.  Converse  took  her 
share  of  sickness  the  first  few  days  out,  and  during  this 
gale  was  as  good  a  sailor  as  the  best  of  them.  I  believe 
she  absolutely  enjoyed  it.     I  did  n't. 

On  the  night  of  Saturday,  October  1st,  we  passed  the 
one  hundred  and  eightieth  degree  of  longitude,  and  waked 
up  the  next  morning  to  find  Sunday  wiped  from  the  cal- 
endar, and  Monday  substituted.  So  far  we  have  had  but 
little  sunshine,  and  the  atmosphere  is  quite  chilly,  the 
mercury  ranging  from  forty-five  to  sixty  degrees. 

On  the  third  Friday  out  the  captain  announced  that  it 
was  probable  we  would  meet  the  steamer  from  Yokohama 
to  San  Francisco,  and  I  am  hurrying  this  letter  so  that, 
if  we  are  so  fortunate,  I  can  send  it  by  that  vessel,  thus 
saving  perhaps  fourteen  days  in  its  delivery. 

"We  hope  to  reach  land  by  the  10th.  Should  we  do 
so,  I  will  be  but  one  day  out  of  my  programme.  Pretty 
good,  I  fancy,  for  a  trip  of  thousands  of  miles. 

At  this  writing  it  is  Monday,  the  10th  of  October,  and 
no  returning  steamer  yet  in  sight.  We  had  a  terrible 
thunder  storm  last  night,  with  very  high  sea.  To-morrow 
we  will,  if  nothing  happens,  be  at  the  end  of  our  voyage— 
twenty-one  days  out  from  'Frisco. 

Japan  !  At  this  moment,  Tuesday,  October  11th,  we  are 
steaming  into  the  harbor  of  Yokohama.  We  did  not  meet 
the  return  steamer  because  she  had  not  started.  As  she 
will  leave  the  port  soon,  I  hurry  this  up,  deferring  men- 
tion of  our  first  impressions  of  Japan  until  my  next. 


AND  BOW  I  SA  W  TT.  53 


VI. 


Japan  and  the  Japanese — A  Condensed  Historical  Sketch — The 
Curious  Customs  of  a  Curious  People — Visit  to  the  Temples 
NEAR  Yokohama — A  Religion  with  an  Ample  Supply  op  Gods. 

Yokohama,  Japan,  October  /j,  i88t. 

My  last  letter,  dated  on  board  the  steamer  Gaelic,  almost 
anywhere  on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  was  necessarily  posted 
promptly  upon  our  arrival,  as  the  steamer  for  San  Francisco 
was  on  the  eve  of  departure.  Thus  I  was  unable  to  even 
attempt  a  description  of  the  impressions  which  our  first 
glimpse  of  Japan  produced.  We  have  now  been  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  mighty  Mikado  for  four  days,  and 
have  seen  much,  been  astonished  by  many  things,  and 
wondered  at  all.  If  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  should, 
by  some  occult  process,  find  himself  a  sojourner  on  the 
planet  Jupiter,  he  might  perhaps  see  less  to  arouse  his 
wonderment  than  he  does  here  in  the  land  of  the  Japs. 

At  an  early  hour  on  the  morning  of  our  arrival,  so 
soon  as  the  first  ray  of  daylight  gave  its  necessary  aid  to 
the  vision,  the  coast  of  Japan  rose  before  us  in  a  long, 
dark  outline,  stretching  away  on  either  hand  and  appearing, 
in  its  indistinctness,  like  a  vast  bank  of  storm-threatening 
clouds.  As  the  darkness  subsided,  the  gigantic,  snow- 
capped peak  of  Fusi  Yami  appeared  as  a  grim  and  frowning 
background  to  a  picture  which  found  its  greatest  beauty 
to  our  eyes  in  the  fact  that  it  was  the  first  glimpse  of 
"good  solid  ground"  we  had  had  for  more  than  twenty 
days. 


54  WHAT  I  SAW, 

Our  steamer  dropped  her  anchor  in  the  harbor  of 
Yokohama  about  8  o'clock  in  the  morning,  in  the  midst 
of  a  vast  array  of  shipping  from  all  parts  of  the  world, 
and  surrounded  by  myriads  of  small  boats,  eager  and 
anxious  to  place  themselves  at  the  service  of  any  one  for 
a  pitifully  meager  compensation. 

The  bay  of  Yokohama  is  very  spacious,  land-locked, 
with  an  abundant  depth  of  water,  sufficient  to  float  the 
combined  navies  of  the  world,  and  surrounded  by  gently 
sloping  elevations,  giving  it  an  appearance  of  picturesque 
beauty.  The  water  is  as  smooth  as  a  mirror.  Our  first 
impression  as  we  gazed  with  wondering  eyes  from  the  deck 
of  the  Gaelic  before  disembarking  was  one  of  grateful 
satisfaction,  coupled  with  an  anxiety  to  explore  the  secrets 
of  the  fairy-like  land  before  us. 

We  were  soon  transferred  to  the  shore,  a  distance  of 
two  miles,  dividing  our  leisure  during  the  brief  trip  by 
studying  our  surroundings  and  schooling  our  modesty  to 
view  with  equanimity  the  shameless  appearance  of  our 
Japanese  boatmen,  who,  with  the  exception  of  an  abbrevi- 
ated breech-clout,  were  arrayed  in  all  the  gorgeousness 
which  distinguished  the  traditional  Georgia  Colonel.  But 
we  will  have  to  get  used  to  this,  as  our  limited  experience 
has  already  taught  us  that,  with  the  coolie  class  in  Japan, 
nakedness  is  the  rule  and  clothing  the  exception. 

We  landed  at  the  custom  house,  and  were  but  little 
delayed,  when  we  trasferred  ourselves  to  the  Windsor 
Hotel,  kept  by  the  ubiquitous  Ohio  man — a  gentleman  by 
the  unusual  name  of  Smith,  formerly  of  Dayton.  This 
hotel  is  an  innovation,  being  conducted  much  as  are  the 
caravansaries  in  America,  and  one  I  can  recommend  to 
every  American  visiting  Japan.  After  breakfast  we  paid 
our  respects  to  the  American  consul,  and  received  much 
information  which  will  be  of  value  to  us  during  our  travels 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  55 

through  the  country.  The  first  duty  was  to  have  our 
American  gold  exchanged  for  native  currency.  I  received 
nine  per  cent  premium  and  took  Japanese  silver,  which  is 
the  handsomest  coin  I  ever  saw.  The  native  silver  I 
again  had  exchanged  into  paper,  at  the  rate  of  one  for  one 
and  a  half.  The  money  here  is  thus  enumerated :  Ten 
tempo  make  one  bun,  or  cent ;  ten  buns  make  one  yen,  or 
dollar.  My  drafts  on  London  are  worth  one  hundred  and 
seventeen  in  specie. 

During  our  peregrinations  we  viewed  many  strange 
sights,  which  it  would  require  a  volume  to  even  partially 
describe.  Among  others  was  a  turn-out  of  the  fire  depart- 
ment, in  response  to  an  alarm.  It  was  a  novel  display, 
and,  to  American  eyes,  not  a  little  ludicrous  in  its  details. 
In  Japan,  fire  is  a  source  of  constant  dread,  as  the  light, 
flimsy  structures  of  bamboo  and  teak,  which  do  duty  in 
this  country  as  building  material,  provide  a  choice  quality 
of  fuel,  which  feeds  the  flames.  When  a  fire  once  breaks 
out,  it  is  much  easier  to  tell  where  it  will  not  stop  than  where 
it  will.  What  this  particular  fire  amounted  to  I  do  not 
know.  It  did  not  disturb  my  equanimity  to  any  extent,  as 
my  interest  in  Yokohama  real  estate  is  fortunately  limited. 
The  excitement  ran  high.  I  have  noticed  that  the  Japs 
are  very  easily  excited.  Upon  the  slightest  provocation 
they  will  yell  and  gesticulate  like  unrestrained  maniacs, 
but  it  seldom  amounts  to  any  thing. 

In  the  morning  of  the  first  day  we  got  our  passport-s 
and  money  matters  arranged  and  while  waiting  for  dinner 
diligently  studied  the  guide  book  preparatory  to  more  ex- 
tended observations. 

Before  entering  upon  further  details  of  our  personal 
experiences,  it  may  be  well  to  recall  some  points  in  the 
political  history  of  Japan,  which  will  doubtless  prove  of 
interest  to  my  readers. 


56  WHAT  I  SAW, 

The  natives  of  Japan  are  supposed  to  have  originally 
come  from  Southern  Siberia,  and,  according  to  their  rec- 
ords, assumed  political  organization  about  twenty-four 
hundred  years  ago  in  the  two  islands  of  Niphon  and 
Kiusiu.  They  were  governed  by  an  emperor,  who,  being 
descended  from  the  gods,  was  divine  and  absolute  on  earth, 
and  Avhen  he  died  was  worshiped.  Not  only  was  his  per- 
son too  sacred  to  be  looked  upon  by  a  stranger,  but  even 
the  sun  must  not  shine  upon  his  head.  It  was  sacrilegious 
to  touch  the  dishes  from  which  he  ate.  At  his  death  his 
twelve  wives  and  all  their  attendants  disemboweled  them- 
selves. These  attributes  are  still  popularly  conceded  to 
the  ruler.  As  Vicegerent  of  Heaven,  he  wears  the  title  of 
Tenno ;  as  sovereign  in  temporal  affairs,  he  is  the  Mikado, 
or  Emperor.  Miako,  some  thirty  miles  inland  from  Yeddo, 
Avas  his  ancient  capitol  and  Osaka  its  seaport.  The  em- 
peror, by  an  assumed  divine  right,  owned  all  the  lands  of 
the  empire,  and  in  time  graciously  divided  them  into 
provinces;  retaining  five  or  more  of  them  for  himself,  he 
parceled  out  the  remainder  among  great  lords  or  princes 
called  daimios.  In  the  thirteenth  century  a  rebellion 
arose  in  the  empire,  and  the  Mikado,  remaining  at  his 
seat  of  government,  intrusted  the  defense  of  the  empire 
to  the  richest  and  strongest  of  one  of  these  daimios,  who 
bore  the  title  of  "  Tycoon."  This  military  commander, 
after  a  short  time,  absorbed  the  temporal  sovereignty  and 
reigned  absolutely.  The  Tycoon,  nevertheless  paid  hom- 
age to  the  Mikado,  who  retained  his  titular  rank  and  un- 
<[uestioned  spiritual  authority.  By  degrees  the  Mikado, 
free  from  all  responsibility  for  administration,  grew  in  the 
affections  of  the  people  in  proportion  as  the  Tycoon,  who 
exercised  his  power  despotically,  became  the  object  of 
popular  jealousy  and  hatred.  It  was  at  this  juncture  that 
the   United   States,  through   Commodore   Perry,   and   the 


AND  HOW  1  SAW  IT.  57 

European  Powers  afterward,  made  their  treaties  with  the 
Tycoon,  in  ignorance  of  any  pretensions  on  the  part  of 
the  Mikado  to  temporal  power.  In  1865  a  revokition  took 
place,  and  the  Tycoon  was  shorn  of  his  domination.  The 
great  Mikado  established  himself  at  Yeddo  as  the  supreme 
temporal  as  well  as  spiritual  ruler.  It  may  be  that  this 
brief  resume  of  the  political  events  of  the  past  few  cen- 
turies of  Japanese  history  will  aid  my  readers  to  unravel 
the  mixture  of  the  terms,  "  Mikado,"  "  Tycoon,"  "  dai- 
mios,"  etc.,  in  sketches  of  Japan.  If  so,  the  space  which 
I  have  devoted  to  it  is  well  filled. 

Every  thing  here  is  seemingly  cast  in  a  different  mold 
from  what  they  are  in  America  and  Europe.  All  we  see 
is  on  a  smaller  scale.  The  people  are  small,  the  horses 
are  small,  the  cattle  are  small,  the  houses  are  small,  and 
even  the  cups  from  which  you  sip  the  national  beverage, 
tea,  are  tiny  specimens,  holding  scarcely  more  than  a  gill. 
But  such  tea !  The  mythical  "  nectar  of  the  gods "  was 
tame  in  comparison  with  it.  Here  we  get  the  tea  in  its 
primal  purity,  unadulterated  by  the  shipper  and  dealer,  and 
brewed  in  a  manner  which  brings  forth  its  best  qualities. 

The  means  of  locomotion,  like  every  thing  else  in 
Japan,  is  new  and  curious  to  us.  They  have  a  few  miles 
of  railroad,  but  I  speak  of  the  means  of  traversing  short 
distances.  The  ordinary  vehicle  is  what  is  called  a  "jinri- 
kisha."  [There,  now !  I  beg  my  indulgent  reader  not  to 
laugh.  I  really  do  n't  know  whether  that  is  the  correct 
spelling,  but  it  is  what  it  sounds  like.  In  Japan,  orthog- 
raphy, with  me,  at  least,  is  wholly  governed  by  the  ear.] 
It  is  simply  an  exaggerated  baby  wagon,  placed  on  two 
wheels,  with  a  top  like  a  buggy.  The  wheels  are  about 
three  feet  in  diameter,  and  each  vehicle  is  drawn  by  a 
native  coolie,  dressed  in  nothing,  or  as  near  nothing  as 
the  most  limited  sense  of  decency  will  allow.     They  are 


58 


WHAT  I  SAW, 


little  fellows,  only  about  five  feet  high  and  do  not  weigh 
to  exceed  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds.  Yet  they  will 
step   briskly    into   the   shafts   and   trot  off  at  the  rate  of 

seven  miles 
per  hour.  The 
shoes  worn  by 
these  coolies, 
and  by  all  the 
lower  and 
middle  classes 
of  Japaneseare 
but  a  pad  of 
plaited  straw, 
about  three- 
fourths  of  an 
inch  thick. 
They  are  held 
on  the  foot  by 
two  cords, 
united  at  the 
front  end  and, 
passing  be- 
tween the  big 
toe  and  its 
A  Japanese  LaDorer.  neighbor,  sep- 

arate and,  going  one  on  each  side  of  the  foot,  unite  again 
under  the  heel.  It  is  not  likely  that  an  American  could 
hold  them  on  his  feet  for  a  minute  by  such  a  crude  con- 
trivance, but  the  coolies  suffer  apparently  no  inconvenience 
on  that  account. 

These  shoes,  or  sandals,  are  more  durable  than  one 
would  suppose.  They  will  last  for  thirty  or  forty  miles 
of  travel.  They  have  the  advantage  of  being  very  light, 
and  are  warranted  not  to  produce  corns  or  bunions.    They 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  59 

are  also  very  cheap,  costing  but  about  a  cent  per  pair. 
The  highways  are  lined  almost  with  cast-off  straw  sandals, 
that  have  been  thrown  aside  after  serving  the  purpose  of 
the  wearer  until  they  became  worn  out. 

As  these  little  carriages  hold  but  one  person,  we  en- 
raged two,  one  for  my  companion  and  the  other  for  myself. 
You  can  readily  picture  the  cavalcade  composed  of  two  of 
these  diminutive  concerns,  drawn  by  a  proportionately 
diminutive  nine-tenths  naked  Jap,  trotting  along  at  the 
rate  of  about  six  miles  per  hour.  That  was  Mrs.  Converse 
and  myself,  enjoying  our  introduction  to  rural  Japan.  As 
they  moved  rapidly  along  the  coolies  continuously  shouted, 
"  Get  out !"  "  Get  out !"  thus  causing  the  innocent  little 
Japs  to  give  way  for  our  passage.  I  can  not  tell  what 
their  ideas  were.  Mayhap  they  mistook  us  for  a  potentate 
of  the  empire,  or  perhaps  the  Great  Tenno  himself.  Who 
knows?  We  went  out  into  the  country  about  six  miles, 
and  gathered  flowers,  grasses,  etc.  We  visited  the  race 
track,  which  has  a  circuit  of  two  miles,  and  viewed  the 
farm  houses,  gardens,  and  rice  fields.  The  whole  country 
is  much  broken,  yet  the  soil  is  as  fine  black  loam  as  I  ever 
saw.  All  kinds  of  vegetables  that  we  are  familiar  with,  and 
many  that  are  strange,  are  produced  in  seemingly  bound- 
less abundance.  We  also  visited  the  American  Cemetery, 
where  a  number  of  the  companions  of  Commodore  Perry 
are  interred.  There  are  some  tasteful  monuments  which 
add  to  the  natural  and  artificial  beauty  of  the  place.  The 
cemetery  is  handsomely  located  on  a  terraced  hillside,  and 
planted  with  tropical  trees. 

One  feature  of  Japan  which  strikes  the  American 
traveler  as  peculiar  is  the  entire  absence  of  "  the  country," 
as  we  understand  the  term  at  home.  The  population  is 
exceedingly  dense,  and  the  most  loquacious  gossiper  need 
not  step  beyond  his  dooryard  to  exchange  news  with  his 


60  WHAT  I  SAW, 

neighbor.  This  necessitates  a  much  more  thorough  system 
of  agricultural  cultivation  than  prevails  in  America.  Not 
a  square  foot  is  allowed  to  go  to  waste,  and  grains,  which 
with  us  are  permitted  to  be  affected  without  restraint  by 
the  elements,  are  here  as  carefully  watched  .nd  tended  as 
American  ladies  care  for  their  most  precious  flowers.  In 
America  land  is  cheaper  and  more  plentiful  than  are  per- 
sons to  care  for  it.  Here,  of  course,  it  is  just  the  oppo- 
site, and  the  frugal  Japs,  after  all,  simply  obey  the  inex- 
orable law  of  necessity.  Did  they  follow  the  same  system 
in  vogue  in  America,  the  people  would  starve.  The  great 
peculiarity  of  the  Japanese,  among  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth,  is  that  they  are  vegetarians.  Full  ninety  per  cent 
of  all  their  food  consists  of  vegetable  productions.  Rice 
is  the  great  staple ;  barley  is  next,  and  then  follow  millet, 
wheat,  rye,  and  Indian  corn.  They  have  many  vegetables 
of  the  highest  value  as  articles  of  diet  which  are  unknown 
to  us,  and  efforts  are  now  in  progress  to  introduce  some 
of  these  into  America. 

A  difference  arose  in  the  Converse  family  the  first  day 
we  were  in  Japan.  It  is  not  likely  to  prove  serious,  but 
it  is  a  difference  nevertheless.  Mrs.  C,  with  a  perversity 
peculiar  to  her  sex,  expresses  a  preference  for  the  small 
Japanese  boys,  while  my  inclinations  draw  me  irresistibly 
toward  the  large  Japanese  girls.  I  hope  to  convince 
Salutha  that  mine  is  the  better  way  of  thinking,  but  it  is 
only  a  shadowy,  ill-defined  hope.  If  there  are  any  really 
handsome  people  in  the  world  it  is  the  Japanese.  And 
so  polite!  When  you  purchase  any  thing  they  bow  them- 
selves almost  to  the  ground,  and  appear  the  very  picture 
of  grateful  humility.  Ah,  the  sly  rascals!  The  prob- 
abilities arc  that  they  have  cheated  you  outrageously  in 
the  trade.  I  know  they  did  me,  and  I  am  not  wholly  un- 
sophisticated either. 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT. 


61 


As  I  was  seated  writing  in  the  afternoon,  I  felt  some- 
what startled  by  a  rap  on  the  door.  In  response  to  my 
summons,  a  native  waiter  approached  in  the  most  ob- 
sequious manner  possible,  and  presented  me  a  letter  super- 
scribed with  the  very  familiar  name  of  "L.  Converse." 
Who  in  Japan  knows  me?  was  my  mental  query,  as  I 
broke  the  seal  to  examine  the  contents.  Perhaps  an  in- 
vitation to  dine  with  the  Mikado!  May  be  a  summons  to 
a  confidential  chat  with  the  foreign  minister!  But  no  !  It 
was  simply  the  card  of  a  business  house,  inviting  me  to  call 
and  buy  some  clothing.  I  did  n't  go.  I  still  have  some 
clothes  left — a  great  many  more,  in  fact,  than  are  worn  by 
some  of  the  Japanese. 

The  breeds  of  domestic  animals  in  Japan  are  limited 
in  variety  and  size.     The  native  horses  are  small,  weighing 


A  Japanese  House. 


an  average  of  scarcely  more  than  eight  hundred  pounds. 
The  foreigners  have  their  horses,  mostly  miported,  and 
basket  phaetons,  and  when  they  ride  out  a  coolie  servant 


62  WHAT  I  SAW, 

runs  beside  tlic  horse  all  the  way,  even  should  the  journey 
be  so  great  as  thirty  or  forty  miles  per  day. 

The  buildings  in  Yokohama  are  cosmopolitan,  if  such 
a  term  can  be  applied  to  architecture.  They  are  composed 
of  stone,  brick,  or  bamboo,  just  as  the  wealth  or  taste  of 
the  builder  may  select.  The  Japanese,  while  called  an 
imitative  race,  do  many  things  unlike  other  people.  For 
instance,  in  our  rambles  we  witnessed  a  novel  mode  of  ele- 
vating mortar  and  other  material.  On  nearly  every  round 
of  the  ladder  was  stationed  a  coolie,  and  each  passed  the 
bucket  of  mortar  to  his  next  highest  neighbor,  very  much 
as  the  bucket  brigade  carried  water  to  the  fires  when  you 
and  I  were  boys. 

The  police  force  of  Yokohama  is  very  numerous  and 
efficient.  They  have  a  peculiar  appearance,  being  dressed 
wholly  in  white.  This  with  us  would  be  significant  of 
purity,  but  I  do  not  think  it  is  in  Japa.n,  or  they  would 
not  uniform  their  policemen  in  that  way.  That  is,  unless 
the  Japanese  police  belong  to  a  race  of  beings  superior  to 
the  conservators  of  the  public  peace  in  the  United  States. 

Finally,  we  voted  unanimously — that  Is,  Salutha  and  I — 
that  we  were  weary  from  our  first  day's  expei'ience  in  Jaj^an, 
and,  after  partaking  of  a  seven  o'clock  dinner,  we  devoted 
the  evening  to  rest  and  comparing  notes  of  our  impressions 
of  Japan  and  the  Japs.  One  duty  of  the  evening  was  to 
contract  for  two  jinrikishas,  with  two  coolies  each,  to  go  to 
the  Temple  of  Daibutz,  eighteen  miles  from  Yokohama. 
"\Ve  closed  a  bargain  of  eight  yens,  or  four  dollars  of  our 
money,  for  the  round  trip.  Our  coolies  provided  every 
thing  for  themselves,  feed,  attention,  and  all  the  requisites 
of  the  jaunt. 

It  was  the  intention  to  start  at  half-past  six  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  but  in  the  matter  of  apparently  inexcusable 
delay,  Japan  does  not  difier  from  the  balance  of  the  world, 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT. 


63 


and  it  was  not  until  eight  o'clock  that  our  "  carriages  " 
were  ready.  As  the  country  to  be  traversed  was  quite 
rough,  we  had  two  coolies  to  each  of  the — well,  I  believe  I 
won't  try  that  word  again.  I  always  drive  double,  and  I 
will  pay  my  coolie  team  the  compliment  of  saying  that 
I  never  handled  a  pair  of  animals  that  could  keep  up  with 
them.  We  passed  along  by  a  canal  for  four  miles,  and 
then  up  a  narrow  valley  five  hundred  to  two  thousand  feet 
wide,  and  on  up  through  mountain  ravines  to  an  elevation 
of  twenty-five  hundred  feet.  Then  followed  alternate 
ascents  and  descents,  through  narrow  passes,  from  six  to 
eight  feet  wide,  with  walls  of  rock  on  either  hand  tower- 
ing up  from  one  to  two  hundred  feet.  Finally  we  de- 
bouched on  to  a  plateau,  where  we  found  villages,  extend- 
ing for  miles  with  scarcely  an  intervening  vacant  space  to 


Interior  of  Japanese  D-welllng. 

mark  the  boundary  lines.  There  was  a  great  sameness  in 
the  buildings  composing  these,  as  there  is  in  fact  in  all  dwell- 
ings that  v/e  have  seen  in  Japan.  They  are  constructed  of 
teak,  with  roofs  of  straw.  For  successive  miles  we  would 
pass  through  these  villages  of  but  one  narrow  street,  enjoying 


64  WHAT  I  SAW, 

the  opportunity  to  study  the  peculiarities  of  dress  and  man- 
ners. The  prevailing  costumes  do  not  require  much  com- 
ment, because  there  was  but  little  of  them.  The  unadorned 
purity  of  nature  was  the  usual  style.  The  women  wore  a 
short  skirt,  and  the  children  nothing.  The  complexion  of 
the  Japanese  is  a  dark  brown,  Avith  coal  black  hair  and 
eyes.  The  girls  are  pretty  until  married,  when  custom 
requires  them  to  stain  their  teeth  black  and  otherwise 
disfigure  themselves.  All  are  small  of  stature,  seldom  ex- 
ceeding five  feet.  Along  the  road  which  we  traveled,  at 
short  distances  were  tea  houses,  where  we  frequently 
stopped  and  invested  a  cent  in  the  delicious  beverage. 
We  tarried  at  several  stores  and  made  purchases  without 
seriously  depleting  our  funds,  as  a  few  cents  will  buy 
almost  a  cart  load  of  any  thing  that  strikes  your  fancy. 
I  bought  a  pair  of  straw  horse  shoes  for  twenty  tempo.  In 
this  country  they  shoe  both  men  and  beasts  with  straw. 

On  our  way  we  visited  a  large  temple  where  they  have 
an  immense  gong,  some  six  feet  across.  The  priest  gave 
it  a  thump  Avith  a  wooden  hammer,  and  e!xplained  that 
that  constituted  the  prayer,  lasting  as  long  as  the  sound 
continued.  He  asked  me  to  "  pray."  I  agreed,  and  gave 
that  gong  a  terrific  rap.  I  judge  the  natives  heard  more 
prayer  during  the  succeeding  minute  than  had  perhaps 
ever  before  fallen  upon  their  ears.  I  can  hear  that 
"prayer"  yet.  Goodness!  how  the  meek-eyed  Japs 
did  open  their  eyes.  They  probably  thought  I  needed 
prayer  badly.  Perhaps  they  were  right.  I  should  judge 
that  in  this  temple  there  are  a  thousand  images,  grouped 
about  a  principal  one.  Just  what  these  images  are  in- 
tended to  represent  I  was  unable  to  learn.  They  are, 
however,  undoubtedly  titular  deities  of  some  kind.  A 
hideous  collection  of  gods  they  are,  too — as  unhandsome 
a  display  of  idols  as  one  could  find  anywhere.     I  could 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  65 

not  describe  this  temple  fully  in  a  clay's  time,  and  it  would 
probalily  add  but  little  to  the  reader's  stock  of  valuable 
information  if  I  essayed  the  task.  It  is  built,  like  all 
others,  of  teak  with  straw  roof,  the  latter  perhaps  fifteen 
to  eighteen  inches  thick.  Think  of  that,  for  a  roof  thou- 
sands, may  be  tens  of  thousands,  of  years  old ! 

AVc  pass  on,  however,  down  the  valley,  leaving  the 
temple  behind  us.  There  is  a  jilethora  of  gods  in  Japan. 
On  the  road  which  we  traveled  these  images  are  erected 
every  few  rods,  each  seemingly  vying  with  its  neighbor 
in  ugliness.  Temples,  also,  are  numerous,  and  we  were 
at  no  time  more  than  a  few  minutes  out  of  sight  of 
one.  They  range  from  a  few  feet  to  an  acre  in  extent. 
The  priests  received  us  very  kindly,  conducting  us  over 
the  temples  and  evidently  striving  to  create  a  good  im- 
pression, in  return  for  which  we  bestowed  a  few  tempo. 
Some  of  these  days  I  am  going  to  study  the  belief  of  the 
Japanese.  I  want  to  learn  what  sort  of  a  religion  it  is 
that  requires  such  a  legion  of  hideously  formed  gods  to 
run  it. 

At  noon  we  arrived  at  the  great  Daibutz  Temple,  one 
of  the  wonders  of  the  world.  A  description  of  this  struc- 
ture, a  vast  human  form,  must  be  deferred  until  my  next. 

5 


66  WHAT  I  SAW, 


VII. 


FUKTHER    OF   THE   JAPANESE — A  ViSIT    TO    DiABUTZ — ThE   TeMPLES — 

A  Japanese  Hotel  and  Dinner — The  City  of  Yokohama — Its 
Business  and  its  People. 

Yokohama,  Japan,  October  i8,  t88i. 

At  noon  of  the  day  whose  incidents  were  being  de- 
tailed at  the  close  of  my  last  letter,  we  reached  the  great 
Daibutz,  eighteen  miles  from  Yokohama.  The  image  is 
certainly  the  most  wonderful  construction  I  ever  viewed. 
It  is  considered  the  proper  thing  for  the  wonder-stricken 
writer  to  speak  of  any  thing  that  especially  excites  his  par- 
ticular astonishment  as  "  one  of  the  Seven  Wonders  of  the 
world."  My  experience  tells  me  that  this  world  is  full  of 
wonders,  ancient  and  modern,  many  of  them  more  awe- 
inspiring  than  the  Pyramids  of  Egypt,  the  Colossus  of 
Rhodes,  the  Mausoleum  of  Artemesia,  the  Temple  of  Diana, 
the  Hanging  Gardens  of  Babylon,  or  the  Statue  of  Jupiter 
Olympus.  All  these  wonders,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Pyramids  of  Egypt,  have  passed  away.  They  were,  no 
doubt,  in  their  day  remarkable  specimens  of  mechanical 
and  architectural  skill,  but,  compared  with  some  of  the 
structures  of  a  more  recent  date,  they  sink  into  compara- 
tive insignificance.  No  scholar  needs  to  be  told  that  the 
scenes  and  incidents  in  ancient  history  are  surrounded 
with  a  halo  of  mythological  glory  which  does  not  add  to 
their  reliability.  But  the  image  of  Daibutz  remains,  a 
gigantic  wonderment  at  once  to  the  mechanical  skill  and 
absurd  idolatry  of  the  Japanese.     Its  history  is  involved 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  67 

in  tradition,  but  it  was  probably  erected  ages  since.  It  is 
in  the  form  of  a  seated  statue,  and  represents  Buddha,  or, 
as  named  by  the  Japanese,  Daibutz.  It  pictures  the  pro- 
genitor of  the  Buddliist  faith  in  a  sitting  posture,  with  the 
legs  gathered  beneath,  the  arms  brought  forward  and 
crossed.  It  is  fifty  feet  in  height,  one  hundred  feet  in 
circumference  at  the  base,  and  the  head  is  nine  feet  long. 
The  remarkable  feature  of  the  statue  is  that  it  is  com- 
posed of  an  alloy  of  gold,  silver,  zinc,  and  copper,  and  is 
hollow.  There  is  not  to  be  seen  a  single  joint  or  seam, 
even  upon  the  most  minute  examination.  It  is  reached  by 
a  flight  of  solid  steps,  and  upon  entering,  one  is  stricken 
with  the  immensity  of  this  human  figure.  We  ascended 
to  the  head,  which  is  large  enough  to  hold  six  or  eight 
persons.  The  bonze,  or  Buddhist  priest,  was  very  accom- 
modating, and  showed  us  through  every  part  of  the  struc- 
ture, in  return  for  which  we  bestowed  upon  the  humble 
heathen  one  half-yen.  This  image  is  not,  as  might  ])e  sup- 
posed, a  temple  in  itself,  but  a  part  of  an  extensive  Budd- 
hist shrine  that,  some  six  hundred  years  ago,  was,  as  tradi- 
tion relates,  swept  away  by  a  tidal  wave,  leaving  only  this 
gigantic  caricature.  As  Daibutz  is  situated  fully  three 
miles  from  the  sea,  it  requires  a  perilous  stretch  of  the 
imagination  to  comprehend  an  elemental  disturbance  that 
would  compass  its  destruction.  After  an  hour  devoted  to 
examining  the  image  and  its  surroundings,  including  quite 
a  variety  of  minor  gods,  we  departed,  feeling  that,  should 
our  journey  end  here,  we  had  been  amply  repaid  for  the 
trials  and  inconveniences  of  our  trip. 

Education  in  Japan  is  almost  universal.  Not  such 
education  as  the  children  of  more  enlightened  nations  re- 
ceive, but  very  thorough  so  far  as  it  goes.  The  Japs  are 
great  readers,  and  illiteracy,  even  among  the  coolies,  or 
slaves,  is  rare.     On  our  return  from  the  visit  to  the  struc- 


68 


WHAT  I  SAW, 


ture,  which  I  have  very  incompletely  described,  we  passed 
near  a  school  house,  just  as  the  pupils  were  being  dis- 
missed, and  tarried  for  a  moment  to  study  the  pleasing 
picture.  The  children  seemed  very  timid,  probably  think- 
ing that  we  were  some  hideous  goblins  sent  by  the  evil 

spirit  to  carry  them 
away.  Finally,  by 
pro ffe ring  some 
shining  coins,  I  in- 
duced o'ne  little 
maiden  to  approach. 
The  teacher  was  a 
lady  of  mature  years, 
who  did  not  seem  to 
be  affected  with 
special  diffidence,  as 
she  came  to  us,  and 
restrained  her  won- 
der at  our  appear- 
ance as  completely  as 
possible.  Woman- 
like, her  fancy  was 
evidently  for  dress, 
and  she  examined 
with  childish  delight 
the  appearance  of 
Mrs.  Converse,  her 
—_--    . . ^^ —  admiration  being 

A  Japanese  Servant.  particularly  in- 

volved in  the  ribbons  and  other  ornaments. 

Passing  by  the  school,  we  visited  the  "Great  Brass 
God,"  climbing  up  a  long  flight  of  stone  steps  and  entering 
a  temple,  where  the  "  boss  "  god  of  all  the  gods  is  located. 
It  is  the  figure  of  a  man,  composed  of  gold  and  brass, 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  69 

some  thirty  feet  high  and  eight  broad.  Its  abdominal 
development  would  indicate  that  the  Japanese  god  manu- 
facturers possess  an  appreciative  idea  of  the  delights  of 
gustatory  exercises.  The  bonze  who  has  charge  of  this 
particular  deity  was  quite  cordial,  and  made  us  a  long 
speech  in  Japanese,  to  which  we  paid  close  attention,  but 
can  scarcely  claim  to  have  been  edified.  The  curiosity  of 
a  bevy  of  boys  was  excited,  and  they  received  us  very 
much  as  what  we  undoubtedly  were,  veritable  curiosities. 
Humanity  is,  after  all,  much  the  same  the  world  over — in 
most  respects,  at  least.  It  is  not  probable  that  our  appear- 
ance in  the  Japanese  temple  excited  more  curiosity  than 
would  the  presence  of  a  couple  of  Buddhist  priests  or 
coolie  Japs  in  the  Court  House  at  Bucyrus.  There  would 
be  one  difference,  however.  The  youthful  Bucyrians  would 
scarcely  exhibit  the  extent  of  trepidation  manifested  by 
the  little  Japs.  The  slightest  movement  on  our  part  was 
the  signal  for  a  scattering  of  demoralized  cupids  that  in- 
dicated not  so  much  modesty  as  fear. 

We  left  the  brass  god  and  the  attendant  priest  with 
some  regret,  and  repaired  to  the  village  hotel.  Our  coolies 
constantly  yell  to  the  passers-by  to  clear  the  way,  as  they 
have  a  great  lord  and  lady  in  charge.  What  do  you  think 
of  that,  ye  unappreciative  Buckeyes?  We  once  circulated 
among  you  as  unostentatiously  as  the  most  humble.  Here 
we  are  of  some  account.  Truly  "  a  prophet  is  not  without 
honor  except  in  his  own  country."  The  streets  in  the 
villages  through  which  we  passed  were  all  narrow,  and 
the  whole  front  of  the  dwelling;;  being  open,  we  had  the 
opportunity  of  observing  much  of  the  internal  economy. 
It  was  a  continuously  amusing  feature  of  our  journey  to 
witness  the  frantic  attempts  of  the  populace  to  give  way 
on  the  summons  of  our  coolies.  There  would  be  a  sudden 
scattering,  with  ill-suppressed  excitement,  a  twinkling  of 


70 


WHAT  I  SAW, 


naked  heels,  a  fluttering  of  garments,  and  the  Japs,  of  all 
classes  and  degrees,  disappeared  within  the  houses  like 
prairie  dogs  into  their  burrows.  '  Once  inside,  their  curi- 
osity overcame  their  trepidation,  and  they  turned  to  stare 
with  open-eyed  wonder  at  us  as  we  were  whisked  rapidly  by. 


Japanese  at  Dinner. 

In  imagining  a  Japanese  hotel  the  reader  will  please 
dismiss  all  ideas  oi  architecture  derived  from  the  palatial 
establishments  of  large  American  cities.  The  hotels,  out- 
wardly at  least,  are  wooden  structures,  two  stories  high, 
but  oftener  only  one.  The  roofs  are  usually  thatched; 
though  the  city  caravansaries  arc  tiled.  They  are  entirely 
open  on  the  front  ground  floor,  and  about  six  feet  from 
the  sill  or  threshold  rises  a  platform,  about  a  foot  and  a 
half  high,  upon  which  the  proprietor  may  be  seen,  seated 
upon  his  heels,  behind  a  tiny  tray  ten  inches  high,  busy 
with  his  account  books.  The  kitchen  is  usually  just  next 
to  this  front  room,  often  separated  from  the  street  only  by 
a  latticed  partition.  In  evolving  a  Japanese  kitchen  out 
of  his  or  her  imagination  the  reader  must  cast  away  the 
rising  conception  of  Bridget's  realm.  Blissful,  indeed,  is 
the  thought,  as  we  enter  the  Japanese  hotel,  that  neither 
the  typical  servant  nor  the  American  hotel  clerk  find  an 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT. 


71 


abiding  place  there.  The  landlord  comes  to  meet  us,  fall- 
ing on  his  hands  and  knees  and  bowing  his  head  to  the 
floor.  Fancy,  if  you  can,  an  Ohio  Boniface  in  such  an 
humble  and  undignified  position!  One  or  two  of  the  bevy 
of  handsome  girls  seen  in  Japanese  hotels  come  to  assist  us 
and  care  for  our  traps.  Welcomes,  invitations,  and  merry 
chatter,  of  which  we  do  not  understand  a  syllable,  greet 
us  as  we  sit  down  to  take  off  our  shoes,  as  all  guests  of 
Japanese  hotels  are  expected  to  do.  We  stand  up  unshod, 
and  are  led  by  the  girls  along  the  smooth  corridor  to  the 
room  set  apart  for  our  entertainment,  where  we  are  seated 
on  mats  on  the  floor.  No  chairs  or  tables  are  seen.  They 
bring  to  us  tea  and  such  food  as  the  customs  of  the  coun- 


Japanese  Reading  and  Singing  Girls. 

try  provide,  consisting  mostly  of  raw  or  cooked  fish,  rice, 
and  bread.  I  think  the  bread  is  made  from  the  meal  of 
millet,  as  I  had  observed  them  grinding  it  in  that  very 
primitive  manner,  pounding  it  in  a  stone  mortar.  In 
Japan  the  use  of  nearly  every  kind  of  animal  flesh  is  pro- 
hibited by  religion,  although  the  flesh  of  the  deer  and 
wild  boar  are  excepted.     But  these  animals  are  found  only 


72  •  WHAT  I  SAW, 

in  remote  regions,  and  in  small  numbers,  so  that  but  few 
of  the  people  are  benefited  by  the  exception.  The  popu- 
lation of  Japan  is  estimated  at  thirty-six  millions.  Reli- 
able statistics  show  that  there  are  in  the  whole  country 
but  about  one  million  head  of  very  inferior  quality  of 
cattle,  nearly  one-half  of  which  are  bulls,  whose  emascu- 
lation is  not  permitted,  and  whose  flesh  is,  therefore,  unfit 
for  food.  This  leaves  about  six  hundred  thousand  cows, 
not  more  than  half  of  which  are  fit  for  beef,  making  less 
than  one  head  to  each  one  hundred  people,  while  in  the 
United  States  there  are  seventy-three  head  to  each  one 
hundred  persons.  Last  year  there  were  slaughtered  in  the 
empire  thirty-six  thousand  cattle,  more  than  half  of  which 
were  used  by  foreigners  in  the  cities  and  on  the  ships  in 
the  harbors.  From  these  facts  it  is  clear  that  among  the 
masses  of  the  people  beef  is  almost  unknown.  Mutton 
and  pork  are  still  more  scarce,  and  are  never  seen  except 
in  ports  where  treaties  with  other  countries  permit  their 
importation.  This  religious  inhibition  does  not  extend  to 
fish  or  poultry.  The  latter  is  abundant,  but  so  high  in 
price  that  only  the  rich  can  afford  its  use,  and  it  forms  no 
part  of  the  diet  of  the  common  people.  Fish  is  abundant, 
in  great  variety,  in  all  the  streams  of  the  country,  and  is 
the  only*  article,  not  of  the  vegetable  nature,  which  forms 
a  staple  of  daily  food. 

This  entertainment  was  not  exhaustively  expensive,  the 
entire  bill  being  but  thirty  cents,  ten  each  for  ourselves, 
and  an  equal  sum  for  the  four  coolies.  The  latter  were 
served  in  the  yard,  much  as  carriage  horses  would  be  in 
America. 

In  the  midst  of  the  novel  surroundings  of  the  Japanese 
hotel,  the  time  slipped  rapidly  away,  until  an  hour  was 
consumed.  At  its  conclusion  our  coolie  team  was  ordered 
to  the  door,  and  soon  we  were  speeding   rapidly  toward 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  73 

other  interesting  experiences,  after  being  cordially  God- 
speeded  by  the  host  and  his  galaxy  of  laughing  female 
attendants.  Our  route  took  us  over  a  steep  mountain 
road,  and  this  was  the  only  occasion  during  the  entire  trip 
when  we  felt  the  necessity  of  alighting  to  relieve  our 
motive  power  of  the  burden.  After  reaching  the  summit, 
we  descended  an  equally  steep  road  to  a  little  fishing  vil- 
lage on  the  ocean's  shore,  and  there  gathered  a  few  shells 
and  other  mementos  from  the  beach.  We  traversed  the 
sandy  shore  for  about  three  miles  until  we  reached  a  can- 
yon, through  which  we  passed,  encountering  several  vil- 
lages on  our  way  back  to  Yokohama. 

During  this  brief  expedition  to  the  country,  we  enjoyed 
the  opportunity  of  studying  to  some  extent  the  agricultural 
features  of  this  section  of  the  Mikado's  empire.  The  rice 
crop  in  some  places  is  matured,  and  their  method  of  treat- 
ing it  carries  us  back  to  the  pioneer  days  in  Ohio.  It  is 
threshed  by  the  use  of  an  instrument  very  similar  to  the 
old  flax  heckel.  Buckwheat  is  raised,  and  some  cotton. 
Garden  produce  of  all  kinds  is,  however,  the  main  depend- 
ence. Their  manner  of  preparing  the  ground»is,  I  should 
judge,  the  same  adopted  by  Abel,  Adam's  bucolic  son, 
who  essayed  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Garden  of  Eden  some  several  years  ago.  In  Japan 
the  "  plowman,"  armed  with  an  immense  hoe,  the  blade 
sixteen  inches  long  and  four  wide,  turns  up  the  soil  about 
as  rapidly  as  would  an  awkward  boy  with  an  American 
spade.  Women  do  the  threshing,  carrying  their  babies 
at  the  same  time.  I  might  describe  the  operation  of  sup- 
plying these  youngsters  with  the  nourishment  which  nature 
provides,  but  my  innate  modesty  forbids.  From  the  ex- 
ceedingly well  developed  fountains  and  the  abdominal  ex- 
tent of  the  little  ones,  I  am  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
supply  is  not  limited. 


74  WHAT  I  SAW, 

We  witnessed,  among  many  other  novel  and  ludicrous 
sights,  the  plan  adopted  for  taking  a  bullock  to  market. 
Instead  of  driving,  as  they  would  do  in  other  countries,  the 
animal  is  bound  to  a  two-wheeled  truck,  at  which  four  men 
haul  and  twenty  push.  Every  thing  is  conducted  in  the 
most  primitive  manner,  though  that  can  hardly  be  said  of 
the  marketing  of  cattle.  The  system  adopted  in  that  regard 
is  not  such  a  one  as  would  be  chosen  by  any  except  the 
Japanese.  We  saw  the  flail,  the  pounding  mortar,  and  the 
winnowing  of  seed  by  throwing  it  into  the  air.  At  times 
it  did  not  require  any  great  stretch  of  the  imagination  to 
fancy  ourselves  transported  back  to  the  days  of  Abraham 
and  the  other  Biblical  patriarchs. 

Darkness  overtook  us  on  the  way,  and  in  reply  to  an 
inquiry  the  guides  told  us  it  was  five  miles  to  Yokohama, 
but  I  am  willing  to  be  sworn  that  the  distance  was  not 
less  than  ten.  Our  route  continued  through  narrow  mount- 
ain passes,  with  occasional  brief  stretches  of  woods.  The 
moon  shone  beautifully  as  we  jaunted  along  the  Tokaido 
road,  giving  to  the  picturesque  scenes  a  weirdness  not  un- 
like our  chiidhood's  dreams  of  fairyland,  and  producing  a 
quiet  exhilaration,  which  was  not  wholly  negatived  by  a 
sense  of  extreme  physical  weariness.  Traveling  in  the 
Japanese  jaunting  cars  over  the  rough  roads  in  the  vicinity 
of  Yokohama  has,  like  every  thing  else  in  this  world,  its 
drawbacks.  The  scenes  are  grand,  sometimes  entrancing, 
and  always  novel,  but  before  a  forty-mile  trip  is  concluded 
the  physical  results  of  the  constant  jolting  protrude  them- 
selves upon  the  senses  with  disagreeable  pertinacity. 

We  drove  up  to  the  Windsor  House  in  Yokohama  in 
true  tally-ho  style,  dismissed  our  teams,  and  eagerly  sought 
rest  in  our  cozy  couches.  There  is  a  great  advantage  with 
the  coolie  teams  of  Japan,  which  the  traveler  is  not  slow 
to  appreciate.     Your  animals  require  no  care,  and  at  the 


AND  ROW  I  SAW  IT. 


75 


conclusion  of  the  journey  they  are  left  to  care  for  them- 
selves, the  which  they  seem  abundantly  able  to  do. 

The  following  day  our  coolies  were  again  brought  into 
service,  and  we  devoted  a  large  |)art  of  the  forenoon  to 
shoj)ping.  The  experiences  we  had  would  fill  a  volume, 
to  which  a  catalogue  of  the  purchases  made  would  provide 
an  extended  appendix.  In  Japan  a  little  money  goes  a 
great  way,  and  as  we  felt  like  spending  some,  we  find 
upon  our  hands  a  varied  accumulation  of  merchandise 
which  we  scarcely  know  how  to  dispose  of.  I  could  pur- 
chase in  Yokohama  for  twelve  or  fifteen  dollars  of  our 
money  the  most  lovely  tea-set  human  eyes  ever  beheld. 
But  what  to  do  with  it  would  be  a  problem  not  easy  of 


Japanese  Lady  at  Home. 

solution.  Our  consul  told  me  that  if  these  things  were 
shipped  home  they  would  all  have  to  be  repacked  in  New 
York,  besides  having  to  pay  a  heavy  duty.  Consequently 
we  will  have,  though  much  against  our  inclination,  to  curb 
the  desire  to  select  a  home  outfit  from  the  varied  markets 
of  Yokohama. 

The  Japanese  appear  to  be  divided  into  three  distinct 


76  WHA3r  I  SAW, 

classes.  First,  there  are  the  government  officials;  second, 
the  business  men  and  their  clerks;  and  third,  the  coolies 
or  menials.  Into  how  many  classes  these  may  be  sub- 
divided 1  do  not  know,  and  have  no  means  of  learning. 
I  believe  the  Japanese  religion  does  not  provide  for  dif- 
ferent castes,  as  is  the  case  in  some  other  Oriental  countries, 
but  it  is  difficult  to  determine  how  many  subdivisions  may 
exist  among  a  people  whose  religion  is  but  an  advanced 
system  of  idolatry.  I  never  weary  of  singing  the  praises 
of  the  industrious  and  seemingly  tireless  coolies.  A  day  or 
two  since  I  saw  in  the  streets  of  Yokohama  two  of  them 
hauling  a  cart  which  was  loaded  with  nine  bales  of  cotton, 
more  than  any  draymen  at  home  would  care  about  bur- 
dening his  horse  with.  There  is  apparently  no  limit  to 
their  capacity  as  beasts  of  burden. 

The  first  impression  upon  the  mind  of  a  tourist  when 
landing  in  Yokohama  is  usually  one  of  disappointment. 
There  is  a  mingling  of  Europe  and  America  with  the 
Oriental  appearance  of  things  that  is  not  just  what  the 
traveler  expects.  The  landing  is  made  in  the  foreign  part 
of  the  city,  where  most  of  the  European  and  American 
mercantile  houses  and  hotels,  and  a  few  residences,  are 
located.  These  occupy  the  shore  side  of  a  wide  bund,  or 
street,  which  extends  for  nearly  two  miles  along  the  shore 
of  the  bay.  The  streets  in  the  foreign  portion  of  the  city 
are  wide  and  well  paved  with  hard  white  stone  and  con- 
crete, and  are  lighted  with  gas.  The  sidewalks  are  narrow, 
but  so  clean  are  the  streets  kept  that  no  discomfort  results 
from  walking  in  the  carriage  way.  AVhat  is  known  as 
Main  Street  is  as  attractive  as  many  avenues  in  pretentious 
cities  of  Europe  and  America.  Here  are  located  many 
fine  stone-front  buildings,  occupied  by  stores,  hotels, 
banks,  restaurants,  etc.  The  displays  of  goods  in  the  plate- 
glass  windows  are  such  as  we  sec  in  the  best  stores  in  the 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  11 

States,  and  do  not  belie  the  extent  and  variety  of  mer- 
chandise to  be  found  within,  much  of  which  is  of  American 
manufacture.  Photographic  establishments,  jewelry  stores, 
physicians'  and  dentists'  signs,  and  newspaper  offices  abound, 
and  the  hurry  and  bustle  of  the  cosmopolitan  crowd, 
Avherein  the  Japanese,  of  course,  predominate,  presents  a 
picture  novel  to  the  eye  of  the  tourist,  and  producing  in 
his  mind  a  feeling  of  surprise  when  it  is  remembered 
that  but  a  quarter  of  a  century  has  elapsed  since  the  em- 
pire of  Japan  was  as  a  sealed  book,  where  no  European 
or  American  was  to  be  seen.  This  street  is  devoted  wholly 
to  shops,  and  in  another  are  to  be  found  the  establishments 
of  the  wholesale  dealers  and  importers.  This  latter  is 
more  native  in  its  appearance  and  characteristics,  and  lacks 
the  bright  airiness  and  frequent  elegance  that  distinguishes 
the  former.  Most  of  the  buildings  are  of  stone,  and  many 
are  fireproof  store  houses,  or  "go-downs,"  as  they  are  de- 
nominated in  the  nomenclature  of  this  country.  In  this 
street  are  located  those  vast  mercantile  establishments, 
usually  in  the  hands  of  Englishmen,  with  an  occasional 
American,  who  control  the  great  import  business  of  Japan. 
Here  is  found  that  ubiquitous  middle  man  peculiar  to  the 
Orient,  the  "comprador."  He  is  a  native  or  a  Chinaman* 
who  has  learned  sufficient  of  the  foreign  languages  to- 
answer  the  demands  of  trade.  In  his  hands  are  placed  alE 
sales  to  natives.  He  is  a  man  of  vast  consequence,  and,. 
as  might  be  expected,  often  grows  rich  in  a  manner  wholly 
unaccountable  to  his  employers.  Efforts  have  been  made- 
to  abolish  the  system,  but  it  still  prevails,  the  merchants- 
being  compelled  to  look  upon  the  comprador  as  a  kind  of 
necessary  evil. 

If  the  appearance  of  Main  Street  in  Yokohama  is  ai 
surprise  to  the  visitor,  the  Bluffs  are  a  veritable  revelation. 
Here  are  to  be  found  the  residences  of  the  better  classes^ 


78  WHAT  I  SAW, 

of  foreigners,  the  wealthy  merchants,  ship-owners,  etc.  It 
is  the  Fifth  Avenue,  the  Beacon  Street  of  Yohohama,  and 
the  aristocratic  residents  of  the  Bkiifs  are  just  as  exclusive 
in  their  social  relations  as  are  their  brothers  and  sisters  of 
New  York  and  Boston  upper-tendom.  There  are,  it  is 
true,  no  awe-inspiring  brown  stone  fronts  or  marble  pal- 
aces, the  houses,  many  of  them,  being  but  one  story  in 
height,  and  none  more  than  two.  These  are  surrounded 
by  trim  hedges  and  lawns,  and  present  a  picture  of  sub- 
urban coziness  very  attractive.  Many  of  the  residents  have 
imported  their  horses  and  carriages,  and  in  the  evening, 
after  business  hours,  the  display  of  fine  turn-outs  reminds 
the  visitor  of  the  home  scenes  left  behind.  The  drives 
in  the  environs  of  Yokoliama  are  certainly  not  frequently 
surpassed  elsewhere  for  varied  scenery  and  attractions  for 
the  eye  and  mind. 

Some  one  has  assigned  as  a  reason  why  the  sun  never 
sets  on  British  possessions,  that  the  Almighty  was  afraid 
to  trust  an  Englishman  in  the  dark.  However  this  may 
be,  certain  it  is  that  there  is  no  nation  in  the  world  whose 
subjects  are  so  widely  scattered  as  England.  Throughout 
the  Orient  the  English  predominate  largely  among  the 
foreigners.  In  Japan,  and  elsewhere  in  the  East,  the 
newspapers,  the  banks,  the  bar,  and  the  Churches  are  con- 
trolled by  Englishmen,  and  the  worst  infliction  that  an 
American  visitor  to  Japan  has  to  bear  is  the  impression 
that  he  too  is  an  Englishman. 

Previous  to  the  opening  of  Japan  to  foreign  trade, 
Yokohama  was  but  an  insignificant  village,  situated  on 
the  shore  of  the  bay,  and  numbering  scarcely  more  than 
a  thousand  people,  who  devoted  themselves  to  fishing. 
Its  subsequent  growth  and  development  of  commercial 
importance  has  been  remarkable.  Many  native  residents 
of  Yeddo  have  removed  to  Yokohama  and  engaged  in  the 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  79 

profitable  trade  of  the  city.  Compared  with  other  cities 
of  the  empire  it  is  not  very  populous,  but  it  is  the  center 
of  commerce  in  Japan,  and  a  few  years  hence  will  be 
numbered  among  the  large  cities  of  the  East.  Its  history 
since  the  advent  of  foreigners  has  not  been  one  of  unvary- 
ing placidity.  "While  the  American  intercourse  with  the 
Japanese  has  been  mainly  peaceful,  the  nations  of  Europe, 
those  selfish  representatives  of  a  quasi  civilization  who 
recognize  no  arbitrament  except  that  of  gunpowder,  have 
pursued  a  different  course,  and  Yokohama  suffered  in  con- 
sequence. Some  sixteen  years  ago  a  fire  occurred,  which 
purified  the  town  both  materially  and  morally,  and  the 
rebuilt  city  is  in  many  regards  a  credit  to  the  foreign  resi- 
dents, and  the  natives  as  well. 


80  WHAT  I  SAW, 


VIII. 

From  Yokohama  to  Yeddo — A  Japanese  Eailroad — The  Capital 
AND  ITS  People — Shopping  in  Yeddo — Visit  to  Shiba  and  the 
Tombs  of  the  Tycoons — The  Mikado's  Castle — An  Earth- 
quake. 

Yokohama,  October  20,  1881. 

The  most  striking  evidence  of  progress  which  greets 
the  visitor  to  Yokohama  is  the  raih'oad.  Twenty-five 
years  ago  the  people  of  Japan  had  not  the  slightest  con- 
ception of  the  steam  engine.  They  looked  upon  the 
steamers  in  the  fleet  of  Commodore  Perry  as  demons  that 
by  some  occult  means  were  empowered  to  move  against 
the  winds  and  tides.  The  conception  of  the  railroad  had 
never  obtruded  itself  upon  the  dreams  of  the  most  imag- 
inative subject  of  the  Mikado.  But  the  imitative  genius 
of  the  people  has  carried  them  forward  rapidly  in  the  pro- 
gressive march  of  civilization.  They  have  steam  vessels 
officered  and  manned  by  Japanese,  and  a  railroad  from 
Yokohama  to  Yeddo,  a  distance  of  about  twenty  miles, 
built  by  Japanese  capital  and  labor,  and  owned,  con- 
trolled, and  officered  by  natives.  The  road,  while  not  as 
complete  in  all  its  appointments  as  the  great  trunk  lines 
of  America,  is  nevertheless  creditable ;  the  cars  are  neat 
and  tidy,  the  officials  obliging,  and  the  speed  sufficient 
for  comfort.  The  fare  is  about  two  and  a  half  cents  per 
mile.  The  tickets  that  are  purchased  at  the  railway  sta- 
tion in  Yokohama  are  polyglot  affiiirs,  in  obedience  to  the 
demands  of  the  cosmopolitan  travelers.  They  are  printed 
in   six   different   languages.      Ours   read   "Yokohama  to 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  81 

Shimbashi,"  the  latter  being  the  name  of  that  quarter  of 
the  Japanese  capital  where  the  railway  station  is  situated. 
The  route  to  Yeddo  is  almost  a  continuous  succession  of 
villages,  each  embellished  with  a  wholly  unpronounceable 
name,  and  presenting  features  that  would  be  monotonous 
were  it  not  that  we  are  in  a  country  where  every  thing 
is  novel.  The  entrance  to  the  imperial  city  is  marked  by 
two  gigantic  black  posts.  Arriving  at  the  station,  which 
is  some  distance  further  toward  the  center  of  the  city,  the 
visitor  takes  his  seat  in  either  a  horse  carriage  or  a  jinri- 
kisha,  and  directs  that  he  may  be  conveyed  to  the  hotel  of 
his  choice.  We  stopped  at  the  Sei  Yo  Ken,  a  hostelry 
presided  over  by  a  Japanese,  and  found  the  accomodations, 
though  not  superior,  very  good.  The  cooking  is  peculiar, 
of  course,  but  I  have  traveled  enough  to  learn  that  eating 
depends  much  more  upon  appetite  than  upon  the  variety  of 
food  or  the  manner  of  preparing  it.  Although  the  hotel  is 
kept  by  a  Japanese,  its  patrons  are  largely  foreigners  and 
the  manner  of  entertainment  partakes  of  the  customs  prev- 
alent in  Europe  and  America.  For  instance,  the  meals 
are  served  upon  tables,  and  the  house  is  provided  with 
arm-chairs.  We  were  amused  by  an  incident  that  occurred 
during  our  stay  that  illustrates  the  force  of  custom.  After 
we  were  seated  for  our  dinner,  a  number  of  Japanese  offi- 
cials filed  in,  dressed  in  European  style,  but  giving  evi- 
dence of  a  certain  degree  of  embarrassment  on  finding 
themselves  in  the  presence  of  foreigners.  In  seating 
themselves  at  the  tables,  several  endeavored  to  fold  their 
legs  under  them,  after  the  manner  of  the  country,  and 
were  more  than  a  little  embarrassed  when  they  found  that 
an  arm-chair  was  not  built  for  that  purpose,  and  that  the 
foreigners  present  were  inclined  to  smile  at  their  dis- 
comfiture. 

There  is  much  in  the  Japanese  capital  to  attract  the 

6 


82 


WHAT  I  SAW, 


attention  and  excite  the  wonderment  of  the  visitor,  but 
there  is  little  to  impress  him  favorably.  The  city  is  said 
to  cover  one  hundred  square  miles  of  ground,  and  it  may 
be  that  it  does,  but  I  did  not  pass  around  it,  and  can  not 
express  an  opinion  based  upon  my  own  judgment.  One 
street,  the  Tori,  is  thirty-five  miles  in  length — so  it  is 
said — but  one  resident  to  whom  I  intimated  my  skepticism 
regarding  the  statement  admitted  that  it  extended  several 

miles  through  the  en- 
virons and  into  the 
country.  The  streets 
run  at  right  angles,  or 
as  nearly  so  as  the 
crude  Japanese  geom- 
etry would  permit.  All 
are-  narrow,  with  no 
sidewalks,  and  at  all 
times  crowded  with  a 
homogeneous  mass  of 
officials,  shopkeepers, 
and  coolies  talking 
and  gesticulating, 
laughing  and  scold- 
ing, viewing  with  won- 
dering eyes  the  occa- 
sional appearance  of 
foreigners  in  their 
midst,  but  always 
treating  them  with  re- 
spectful civility.  Tradition  among  the  Japanese  tells  us 
that  the  population  of  the  city  was  at  one  time  in  its  his- 
tory over  seven  millions.  Untoward  circumstances,  largely 
devastating  fires,  have  tended  to  reduce  the  number  of  in- 
habitants, until  now  the  most  liberal  estimate  places  the 


Hair  Dressing  in  Yeddo. 


AND  HO  W  1  SA  W  IT.  83 

aggregate  at  one  million  and  a  half.  In  a  number  of 
places  within  the  city  we  saw  vast  areas  that  had  been 
swept  over  by  fire,  and  had  never  been  rebuilt. 

The  climate  of  the  Japanese  capital  is  usually  agreeable, 
though  varied  at  times  by  the  prevalence  of  high  winds, 
and  rain  at  others.  There  are  now  perhaps  a  thousand 
foreigners  resident  in  the  city,  mainly  Americans  and 
Englishmen.  Foreigners  are  not  allowed  to  reside  in  the 
city  outside  the  concession,  except  those  connected  with 
the  civil  or  other  service  of  Japan. 

Previous  to  visiting  Japan  we  had  heard  much  of  the 
dangers  attending  a  sojourn  in  the  capital,  of  the  blood- 
thirsty Samaurai,  who  wore  two  swords  and  amused  them- 
selves by  lopping  off  the  heads  of  intruding  foreigners. 
These  Samaurai  formed  until  within  the  past  very  few 
years  a  distinct  class.  Previous  to  the  revolution  of  1868 
they  were  the  military  retainers  of  the  daimios,  who  scorned 
to  labor.  Naturally  enough,  they  looked  upon  the  advent 
of  foreigners  with  suspicion,  as  likely  to  produce  a  state  of 
affairs  inimical  to  their  interests,  an  effect  that  they  fully 
foretold.  As  a  consequence  they  were  for  years  the  terror 
of  foreign  residents  in  Japan.  Recently,  however,  by  a 
decree  of  the  government,  the  perquisites  of  these  followers 
have  been  withdrawn,  and  the  custom  of  wearing  swords, 
except  by  military  or  naval  officers,  abolished.  As  a  con- 
sequence, the  terrorizing  Samaurai  are  rapidly  becoming 
absorbed  into  the  masses  of  the  population. 

Yeddo  is  a  place  of  minor  commercial  importance 
compared  with  Yokohama,  the  chief  industry  being  that 
of  manufacturing.  At  least  it  is  called  manufacturing, 
though  in  the  United  States  we  would  perhaps  be  at  a  loss 
for  a  term  to  properly  describe  the  crude  operations,  which, 
however,  result  in  the  production  of  some  wonderfully 
beautiful  and  useful  articles. 


84  WHAT  I  SAW, 

Shopping,  the  world  over,  is  a  science — an  accomplish- 
ment which  forms  a  large  part  of  the  education  of  the 
ladies,  but  visitors  to  Japan  find  that  their  acquisitions  in 
that  regard  require  revision.  The  shops  are  small  affairs, 
wholly  open  in  front,  and  provide  for  the  inmates  at  once 
a  store  and  a  dwelling-house.  If  the  purchaser  manifests 
the  slightest  anxiety  to  buy,  he  will  have  to  pay  two  or 
three  prices  for  the  article.  The  indifference  of  the  Jap- 
anese shopkeepers,  whether  real  or  feigned,  is  phenomenal. 
Their  actions  would  indicate  a  preference  that  you  would 
pass  on.  Nor  is  this  the  outgrowth  of  an  antipathy  to  for- 
eigners, because  no  such  feeling  exists,  and  they  are  equally 
indifferent  toward  their  own  people.  If,  however,  you  care- 
lessly inquire  the  price  of  an  article  (all  merchandise  is 
placed  within  the  easy  reach  of  customers),  every  member 
of  the  family,  big  Japs  and  little  Japs,  old  Japs  and  young 
Japs,  will  step  forward,  willing  but  seemingly  not  anxious 
to  answer  your  question.  As  I  have  said,  the  shop  is  the 
home  of  the  entire  family,  not  by  any  means  always  a 
small  one.  A  space  in  the  center,  scarcely  ever  more  than 
five  feet  square,  answers  the  purpose  of  a  dining  and  sleep- 
ing room.  An  American  would  soon  die  if  compelled  to 
submit  to  the  inconvenience  of  such  surroundings.  The 
Japs,  fortunately  for  their  happiness,  are  cast  in  a  different 
mold.  It  may  be,  however,  that  their  progress  to  their 
present  condition  has  been  gradual,  and  that  they  have,  with 
philosophical  calmness,  fitted  themselves  to  circumstances. 
Certain  it  is  that  they  are  the  jolliest,  best-humored, 
most  accommodating  and  peaceful  of  any  race  I  have  ever 
visited. 

One  of  the  principal  attractions  in  Japan  is  the  Shiba, 
or  grounds  containing,  in  addition  to  a  magnificent  temple, 
the  tombs  of  the  various  Tycoons  who  have  ruled  over 
Japan  during  the  past  few  hundred  years.     Some  of  the 


AND  HO W  I  SAW  IT.  85 

tombstones  are  of  granite,  others  of  bronze.  These  monu- 
ments are  attractive,  but  their  elegance  is  so  nearly  eclipsed 
by  the  grandeur  and  beauty  of  the  temple  that  they  sink 
into  comparative  insignificance.  The  entrance  to  the  tem- 
ple is  up  a  grand  staircase  of  eighty-five  steps,  and  thence 
through  a  spacious  gate.  Before  passing  through  the  door 
which  leads  from  the  vestibule  into  the  body  of  the  tem- 
ple, we  were  requested  to  remove  our  shoes.  This  is  not, 
as  might  be  supposed,  required  in  accord  with  a  supposi- 
tious sacredness  of  the  building,  but  simply  to  insure 
cleanliness.  The  priest,  who  acted  as  our  chaperon,  then 
conducted  us  through  the  gorgeous  building,  whose  floor  is 
of  ebony,  polished  like  glass.  The  doors  are  embellished 
with  carving  twelve  inches  deep,  and  artistically  orna- 
mented with  gilding.  What  with  the  hideous  devices  of 
the  great  red  dragon  of  Japan,  with  its  forked  wings, 
flaming  mane,  and  powerful  claws,  the  monstrous  trans- 
formation of  Buddha  into  lions  rampant  and  roaring,  pea- 
cocks proud  and  strutting,  and  sagacious  storks,  stalking 
and  prophesying,  the  inner  temple  is  a  weird  combination 
of  the  mythical  and  terrifying.  The  extent  of  the  build- 
ing is  beyond  reasonable  surmise  even,  and  the  lofty  roof 
is  supported  by  vast  columns.  The  cornice  is  of  gilded 
carving  twenty-four  inches  deep.  The  temple  of  Shiba  is 
a  vast  museum  of  gods,  in  which  one  could  devote  hours 
studying  the  different  forms  which  the  Japanese  deity  is 
made  to  assume.  Our  time  was  limitejl,  and  the  reflection 
that  three-fourths  of  the  world  yet  lay  before  us,  filled  with 
scenes  novel  and  entrancing,  drew  us  away,  and  we  turned 
our  backs  upon  Shiba,  feeling  that  our  wildest  dreams  of 
the  fanciful  handiwork  of  man  fell  far  short  of  the  reality. 
After  this  visit  to  Shiba,  we  called  upon  the  Amer- 
ican Minister — another  Ohio  man,  Mr.  Bingham,  formerly 
of  Cadiz,  and  for  several  terms  a  Representative  in  Con- 


86  WHA  T  I  SA  W, 

gress.  We  were  received  very  cordially  by  liirn  and  his 
pleasant  family.  Mr.  Bingham  has  represented  the  United 
States  Government  at  the  court  of  the  Mikado  for  several 
years,  and  his  duties  have  uniformly  been  performed  in  a 
manner  satisfactory  to  both  governments,  and  I  hope  many 
more  years  will  elapse  before  that  intangible  and  often 
mythical  "political  necessity"  will  arise  demanding  his 
recall. 

To  Mr.  Bingham  we  were  indebted  for  the  privilege  of 
a  cursory  examination  of  the  ground  of  the  palace  of  the 
Mikado.  The  citadel,  called  "  The  Great  Castle,"  occupies 
an  immense  tract  in  the  center  of  the  city,  some  nine  miles 
in  circumference,  and  is  a  triple  fortification,  the  second 
and  third  being  within  the  first,  each  in  itself  complete, 
with  rampart,  inner  embankment,  ditch,  bastion  and  glacis, 
parapet,  and  double  gates.  The  outer  fort  stands  on  a 
level  with  the  plain,  the  second  higher,  and  the  central  one 
higher  still,  overlooking  the  country  and  sea.  The  walls 
of  each  are  fifty  feet  high,  built  of  granite  blocks  of  mas- 
sive extent.  The  whole  is  surrounded  by  a  moat  five 
hundred  feet  wide,  fed  by  a  stone  aqueduct  which  brings 
water  from  the  mountains,  a  distance  of  twenty-five  miles. 
The  grounds  are  covered  with  massive  trees,  a  variety  of 
carefully  cultivated  shrubbery,  and  every  device  of  beauty 
which  ingenuity  could  suggest  or  floricultural  skill  execute. 
Mr.  Bingham  learned  from  the  Tycoon  that  the  forts,  pal- 
aces, and  ground  occupied  thirty-five  thousand  men  forty- 
five  years  in  building.  All  the  stone,  many  of  them  of 
incredible  size,  were  brought  from  the  mountains  by  man- 
power. 

The  present  Mikado  is  but  twenty-nine  years  of  age, 
and  is  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-first  in  direct  succes- 
sion, from  the  year  660  B.  C.  He  has  had  three  children, 
but  all  are  now  dead.     We  did  not  see  him,  as,  perhaps  by 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  87 

reason  of  an  oversight,  ^ye  did  not  receive  an  invitation  to 
dine  at  the  palace.  AVe  felt  somewhat  slighted,  and  expe- 
rience some  trepidation  by  reason  of  the  suspicion  that, 
perhaps,  all  the  crowned  heads  whose  possessions  we  shall 
honor  with  our  presence  may  follow  the  pernicious  exam- 
ple of  the  Mikado,  and  not  extend  their  personal  hospital- 
ities. In  our  august  persons,  the  dignity  of  the  city  of 
Bucyrus  and  the  pride  of  Crawford  County,  as  well  as  the 
prestige  of  the  great  State  of  Ohio,  have  been  humbled. 

As  I  have  before  observed,  the  city  of  Yeddo  is  not 
compactly  built.  Not  only  are  there  vast  tracts  where  fire 
has  devastated  the  jjlace,  but  parks  abound.  The  city  is  a 
curious  conglomeration  of  closely  packed  houses  and  cool, 
roomy  breathing  places.  There  is  little  beauty  outside  of 
these  parks  and  the  temples.  The  houses  are  all  of  wood, 
usually  of  one  story  and  never  more  than  two.  The 
bridges,  of  which  there  are  a  large  number,  and  the  em- 
bankments of  the  canals,  are,  however,  of  stone.  The 
canals  are  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  feet  deep,  and  the 
stone  sides  slope  at  an  angle  of  about  forty-five  degrees. 

We  visited,  during  our  brief  stay  in  the  Japanese  cap- 
ital, the  great  temple  of  Yeno,  a  veritable  twin-sister  of 
Shiba,  and  the  "  Temple  of  Pigeons."  At  the  latter  there 
are  thousands  of  pigeons,  fed  and  otherwise  cared  for ;  also 
a  myriad  of  monkeys,  which  chatter,  grimace,  and  gener- 
ally present  little  evidence  of  a  feeling  of  appreciation  of 
the  sacredness  in  which  they  are  held  by  the  idolatrous 
priests  and  their  deluded  followers.  How  any  person  can 
see  any  thing  sacred  in  a  beastly  monkey  surpasses  my 
comprehension.  I  do  not  see  how  the  least  impression 
can  be  made  upon  these  people  by  Christian  missionaries, 
yet  there  are  those  who  claim  that  they  find  encourage- 
ment to  persevere. 

Among   other   places  we  visited   was   the  Holy  Fish 


88  WHAT  I  SAW, 

Pond,  M'here  there  are  pure  white  and  gold  fish,  twelve  to 
fifteen  inches  in  length,  having  three  tails  each.  I  do  not 
know  whether  their  holiness  is  dependent  upon  the  num- 
ber of  their  tails  or  not.     Perhaps  it  is. 

In  the  center  of  the  city  is  a  bridge  known  as  Niphon 
Bashi,  that,  though  of  ordinary  appearance,  is  one  of  the 
most  important  points  in  Japan.  From  it  all  distances 
throughout  the  empire  are  measured.  It  lies  in  the  heart 
of  the  city,  and  spans  one  of  the  widest  canals. 

Yeddo  is  not,  as  has  popularly  been  supposed,  an  an- 
cient city,  it  having  been  founded  as  recently  as  1600. 
Previous  to  that  time  the  castle  existed,  having  been  built 
as  early  as  1355. 

If  it  were  not  that  earthquakes  are  indigenous  to 
Japan,  I  would  think  that  perhaps  there  was  ill  luck  in 
my  presence.  You  remember  that  we  had  a  little  one  in 
^Frisco  just  before  sailing  for  Japan,  and  while  in  Yeddo 
we  were  greeted  with  another.  I  had  just  retired  to  bed 
after  spending  the  evening  in  discussing  the  sheep  ques- 
tion with  a  resident  of  Australia,  and  was  debating  in  my 
mind  whether  my  companion  would  feel  ajjpreciatively 
grateful  to  me  if  I  should  wake  her  up  and  inform  her 
that  there  is  a  man  in  Melbourne  who  owns  two  million, 
sheep,  when  suddenly,  without  so  much  as  a  second's 
warning,  the  bed  began  to  rock,  and  the  floor  to  vary 
from  a  horizontal  position,  in  a  manner  very  mystifying 
to  a  temperate  man.  It  did  not  last  long,  and  I  am 
powerfully  glad  of  it.  The  sensation  produced  upon  my 
nervous  organism  by  an  earthquake  is  not  enviable.  It 
always  feels  to  me  as  if  the  bottom  had  fallen  out  of  every 
thing,  and  I  was  about  to  drop  through  the  hole.  Nobody 
paid  any  attention  to  it  except  me.  The  Japs  view  these 
mundane  convulsions  with  more  equanimity  than  I  can  ever 
hope  to   attain.     Once  in  a  while,  however,  there  comes 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  89 

one  that  wakes  them  up  pretty  thoroughly.  History  tells 
of  one  earthquake  which  destroyed  one  hundred  and 
eighty-eight  thousand  people  in  the  city  of  Yeddo  alone, 
and  another  which,  some  twenty-five  years  ago,  put  an 
eternal  quietus  upon  one  hundred  and  four  thousand. 

In  leaving  Yeddo,  I  am  fully  aware  that  I  have  given 
to  my  readers  but  a  very  imperfect  picture  of  the  great 
city.  This  is  for  the  reason  that  I  did  not  have  a  month 
or  a  year  to  devote  to  it.  Some  one  has  said  that  a  stran- 
ger in  London  can  find  something  novel  and  of  a  char- 
acter worth  detailing  every  hour  for  a  year.  How  much 
more  true  must  the  same  theory  be  of  Yeddo,  a  city 
nearly  as  large  as  London,  and  where  every  thing  seen 
from  the  moment  you  enter  the  place  is  strange  and  cu- 
rious. No  one,  even  did  he  possess  a  pen  many  times 
more  facile  than  mine,  could  write  a  thorough  description 
of  Yeddo  in  two  years.  I  have,  in  my  crude  and  perhaps 
unsatisfactory  manner,  endeavored  to  transmit  an  idea  of 
some  of  the  most  interesting  sights,  but  still  I  feel  that  it 
is  not  even  an  introduction  to  what  might  be  written. 

We  returned  to  Yokohama  on  Sunday  morning.  Here 
we  find  the  foreign  business  houses  closed  on  the  first  day 
of  the  week,  but  the  natives  naturally  pay  no  heed  to  the 
Christian  Sunday.  No  one  can  doubt  that  they  are  sin- 
cere in  their  devotion  to  a  belief  which  seems  absurd  to 
us,  and  the  question  whether  they  must  suffer  eternal  pun- 
ishment for  a  mistake  which  they  knew  not  was  an  error 
is  one  which  I  will  not  attempt  to  discuss,  much  less 
solve.  There  is,  notwithstanding  the  years  that  have 
elapsed  since  the  revelations  of  the  Son  of  God,  much 
that  is  not  clear  to  the  inquiring  mind.  The  poor  Jap  is 
just  as  faithful  in  his  devotion  to  the  religion  of  Buddha 
as  we  are,  or  can  be,  to  the  teachings  of  Christ.  He  is 
sincere.     So  are  we — to  some  extent.     But  I  do  not  de- 


90  WHAT  I  SAW, 

sign  to  run  my  rambling  comments  upon  Japan  and  the 
Japs  into  a  motapliysical  disquisition  upon  theology. 

In  the  afternoon  of  Sunday  we  visited  the  Methodist 
Church  Sunday-school.  There  were  some  fifty-five  schol- 
ars present.  Milton  A^ail,  a  Pennsylvanian  who  has  been 
connected  with  educational  matters  in  Japan  for  several 
years,  invited  us  to  visit  his  Bible  class.  He  has  four 
young  Japanese  men  who  read  English  quite  readily.  At 
my  request  they  sang  several  hymns,  and  acquitted  them- 
selves creditably.  Vail  told  us  they  had  altogether  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  scholars,  from  all  parts  of  the  city. 
He  conducted  us  through  the  Theological  College,  and 
then  to  the  house  where  the  students  of  the  college  board. 
Every  thing  was  neat  and  tasteful.  They  have  a  good 
home  and  chapel,  and  I  never  passed  an  hour  more  pleas- 
antly than  with  these  faithful  searchers  for  the  blessed 
truths  of  divinity.  I  have  heretofore  criticised  without 
mercy  the  insincere  mummery  which  disgraces  the  name 
of  religion  among  the  bigoted  priesthood  and  besotted 
laymen  of  Mexico.  I  have  nothing  to  apologize  for  in 
that  regard.  I  despise  insincerity  in  any  thing.  The 
work  of  the  missionaries  in  Japan,  so  far  as  my  observa- 
tion extends,  is  worthy  the  confidence  of  every  Christian. 
They  are  undoubtedly  faithfully  following  their  chosen 
work,  and  God  will  surely  bless  them  and  their  labors. 
The  missionaries  by  opening  up  the  benighted  minds  of 
the  Japanese  are  performing  a  work  of  inestimable  value 
to  the  cause  of  Christianity,  and  at  the  same  time  are  ex- 
erting, quietly  and  unostentatiously,  an  influence  which 
will  be  felt  in  drawing  into  more  intimate  relations  with 
Japan  the  Christian  nations  of  the  earth. 

After  Sunday-school,  Mr.  Vail  invited  us  to  spend  an 
hour  at  his  study,  and  he  showed  us  several  rare  old  Jap- 
anese  books.     They  are  of  peculiar   construction,   being 


AND  HO W  I  SAW  IT.  91 

about  eight  Inches  square,  and  fold  together  like  a  fan. 
Paper  does  not  seem  to  have  been  available  at  the  time 
they  were  printed,  as  the  material  is  a  stiff  silk.  We 
could,  were  we  so  disposed,  collect  an  attractive  museum 
of  curiosities  in  Japan  and  the  other  countries  we  will 
visit,  but  of  course  there  is  a  limit  to  our  facilities  for 
transportation,  and  while  anxious  to  secure  only  those 
specimens  which  will  prove  the  most  curious  to  our  friends, 
it  may  be  that  we  will  imitate  the  man  who  sought  a  pe- 
culiarly straight  stick  in  a  wood,  and  passing  by  so  many 
that  he  imagined  were  not  quite  complete  enough,  found 
when  he  had  passed  through  the  wood  that  he  must  needs 
content  himself  with  a  crooked  stick  at  last. 

We  have  made  arrangements  for  sailing  to-morrow 
(the  19th)  for  Hiogo,  in  the  west  part  of  Japan,  and  I 
will  mail  my  next  from  that  port. 


92  WHAT  I  SAW, 


IX. 


HioGO,  Kioto,  and  the  Vicinity — A  Visit  to  Japan's  Ancient  Cap- 
ital— More  of  the  Temples  and  Hotels — A  Japanese  Cobbler 
AND  HIS  Shop— The  Cultivation  of  Tea  and  Rice — A  Primitive 
Manner  of  Harvesting. 

HiOGO,  Japan,  October  24, 1881. 

In  our  hurried,  and  consequently  to  a  large  extent 
superficial,  view  of  Japan,  we  have  reached  this  point, 
located  on  an  arm  of  the  inland  sea,  and  distant  thirty-six 
hours  by  steamer  from  Yokohama.  Our  vessel  was  a  Jap- 
anese steamer,  the  Hirosliima-maru,  of  American  build. 
The  accommodations  were  excellent,  and  the  attention 
thoughtful  and  courteous.  The  vessel  is  a  model  of 
neatness,  and  the  stateroom  which  we  occupied  superior 
even  to  the  accommodations  provided  on  the  Pacific 
Mail  steamers.  Among  the  passengers  were  two  lady 
missionaries  going  to  Hiogo  (or  Kiobe,  as  it  is  some- 
times called),  one  from  Pennsylvania  and  the  other  from 
New  York.  From  such  acquaintance  as  the  limited  time 
permitted,  I  was  led  to  renewed  respect  for  the  devoted 
singleness  of  purpose  which  leads  these  ladies  to  for- 
sake home,  friends,  and  country  to  teach  the  semi-civ- 
ilized Japanese  the  "way  of  life."  Their  lot  need  not  be 
envied,  particularly  when  it  is  remembered  that  they  go 
three  hundred  miles  into  the  interior,  traveling  mostly  on 
foot,  where  they  will  be  far  beyond  the  outposts  of  civili- 
zation, with  little  companionship  beyond  themselves.  May 
the  grace  of  God  accompany  them,  and  bring  to  them 
happiness  amid  surroundings  where  I,  at  least,  would  not 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  93 

expect  to  find  it.  We  had  also  on  board  the  vessel  the 
Corean  ambassadors,  who  had  been  to  Yeddo  concerning 
the  stipulations  of  a  treaty  entered  into  between  Corea  and 
Japan.  Corea,  a  peninsula  lying  west  of  Japan  and  south 
of  Mantchooria,  being  a  part  of  the  mainland  of  the  conti- 
nent of  Asia,  has  long  been  a  bone  of  contention  between 
China  and  Japan.  At  various  periods  the  two  nations 
have  growled  and  spit  at  each  other  like  a  couple  of  en- 
raged tom-cats,  with  many  wordy  threats  of  fight,  but,  as 
is  quite  usual  with  our  Mongolian  antipodes,  it  ended  in 
words.  China  finally  waived  her  claims  upon  Corea,  and 
a  treaty  has  been  signed  between  Corea  and  Japan,  under 
which  the  former  becomes  a  dependency  of  the  latter. 
These  Coreans,  judging  from  the  specimens  we  saw,  possess 
little  of  the  physical  peculiarities  of  the  Mongolians.  They 
are  of  a  lighter  complexion,  with  beards,  tall  and  shapely, 
and  would  weigh  an  average,  I  judge,  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds.  They  were  quick,  nervous,  and  decided  in  their 
movements,  and,  I  would  think,  would  prove  quite  formid- 
able in  war.  Their  dress  is  peculiar,  being  confined,  so  far 
as  my  observation  extended,  to  a  long  blue  robe  or  gown. 
This  inland  sea,  of  which  I  have  spoken,  is  by  many 
travelers  accounted  the  most  beautiful  sheet  of  water  in 
the  world.  To  this  I  will  not  add  my  testimony,  as  after 
I  have  seen  other  attractive  scenes  I  might  be  compelled 
to  revise  it.  The  vessel  threaded  its  way  through  innum- 
erable islands,  where  there  was  barely  room  to  pass.  Each 
island  is  an  elysium  in  appearance,  covered  with  verdure, 
and  presenting  in  their  continuous  succession  a  moving 
panorama  of  entrancing  beauty  sucli  as  our  eyes  certainly 
never  before  beheld.  This  most  luxuriant  vegetation  comes 
down  to  the  water's  edge,  and  the  water  being  at  all  times 
placid  there  is  little  or  no  surf,  which,  while  adding  to 
beauty  in  one  regard,  often  detracts  from  it  in  another. 


94  WHAT  I  SAW, 

The  mountain  formations  of  Japan,  in  all  parts  which 
we  have  visited,  are  peculiar,  to  some  extent,  in  their 
abruptness,  with  sides  furrowed  and  seamed  by  the  attrition 
of  the  elements  during  ages  past.  Judging  from  appear- 
ances, ascent  would  be  impossible,  but  we  have  found  it 
scarcely  ever  even  difficult,  when  under  the  control  of  the 
industrious  and  ever  faithful  coolies.  These  gullies,  or  in- 
cipient canyons,  furnish  the  highway  up  which  the  traveler 
is  conducted  with  safety  and  dispatch.  The  traveling  is 
not  either  so  smooth  or  expeditious  as  following  behind  a 
pair  of  2.40  trotters  on  a  wood  pavement,  but  it  is  progress. 
My  advice  to  people  Avho  expect  to  find  in  traveling  those 
comforts,  conveniences,  and  luxuries  to  which  they  are 
accustomed  at  home,  is  not  to  venture  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  States.  Inconvenience  and  discomfort  are  the  penalties 
which  every  wanderer  pays  for  the  privilege  of  satisfying 
his  curiosity. 

We  had  the  pleasure  of  witnessing  during  our  short 
voyage  from  Yokohama  the  "fire  practice"  of  the  steamer's 
crew.  An  alarm  was  given,  and  almost  in  less  time  than 
is  necessary  for  the  reader  to  cast  his  eye  along  this  line 
every  man  of  the  crew  was  at  his  post  and  several  streams 
of  water  were  being  directed  against  an  imaginary  fire. 
Such  a  display  of  efficiency  and  discipline  went  far  to 
allay  the  nervous  dread  of  fire  M'hich  even  the  most  hard- 
ened ocean  traveler  experiences. 

Our  brief  voyage  ended  on  the  21st,  and  we  landed  at 
Hiogo.  Having  shipped  our  trunks  to  China  direct  from 
Yokohama,  we  are  provided  with  only  our  hand-bags  for 
the  seven  days'  stay  which  we  will  make  in  this  part  of 
Japan.  We  stopped  here  at  the  Hiogo  Hotel,  kept  by  a 
Yankee  from  the  shores  of  Cape  Cod.  We  rather  missed 
the  omnipresent  Ohio  man — that  venturesome,  enterprising 
Buckeye,  who   is    to   be  found  almost  everywhere.      Our 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  95 

landlord  on  this  occasion  is  a  true  down-easter,  having  all 
the  shrewd  enterprise  and  cunning  ingenuity  of  the  typical 
Yankee.  The  holstery  over  which  he  presides  is  credita- 
ble to  his  capacity  as  a  caterer  to  the  comforts  of  the 
traveling  public,  and  to  the  great  and  ge-lorious  country 
from  which  he  hails. 

Hiogo  is  one  of  the  United  States  treaty  ports.  It  is 
not  a  large  city,  but  quite  presentable  in  appearance.  It 
is  one  point  among  many  others  where  the  stranger  must 
look  to  those  very  necessary  evils,  his  passports  for  the 
interior.  The  Japanese  officials  were  neither  very  inquisi- 
tive nor  exorbitant  in  their  charges.  They  probably 
look  upon  all  foreigners  as  a  species  of  innocent  bar- 
barians, who  seek  information  upon  the  advanced  enlight- 
enment of  Japan,  and  they  are  disposed,  as  a  consequence, 
to  afford  them  every  facility  in  their  power,  consistent  with 
a  proper  regard  for  the  dignity  of  the  Mikado's  govern- 
ment. They  charged  us  for  the  honor  perhaps  of  answer- 
ing tlieir  limited  queries  the  munificent  sum  of  ten  cents, 
and,  with  these  little  bits  of  paper,  covered  with  hiero- 
glyphics, which  are  as  unintelligible  to  us  as  the  inscrip- 
tions upon  the  ancient  tombs  of  Egypt,  we  are  privileged 
to  go  out  into  the  country  a  distance  of  fifty  miles,  and 
ask  a  million  questions  of  the  natives  which  they  will  not 
comprehend  any  more  than  we  will  be  able  to  understand 
their  replies.  This  traveling  in  a  country  whose  language 
you  do  not  understand  and  could  not  learn  in  twenty 
years,  has  its  disadvantages  to  the  seeker  after  information, 
particularly  to  a  member  of  the  universally  inquisitive 
Yankee  nation. 

And  these  passports !  How  do  we  know  that  the 
cabalistic  designs  thereon,  resembling  nothing  so  much 
as  a  fly  vigorously  smashed  on  a  sheet  of  paper,  are 
not  really  an  order  to  some  official  satrap  away  up  in  the 


96  WHAT  I  SAW, 

country  to  summarily  cut  off  our  respective  heads  ?  The 
danger,  however,  is"  not  sufficiently  imminent  to  disturb 
our  equanimity.  Still  it  is  but  seventeen  years  since  a 
terrible  massacre  of  foreigners  took  place  in  this  same  city 
of  Hiogo,  almost  within  sight  of  the  window  at  which  I 
am  writing.  The  European  settlement  and  the  native  city 
are  separated  by  a  road,  and  it  was  while  the  Japanese 
army  was  passing  along  this  that  the  soldiers  fired  upon 
the  foreigners.  It  Avas  but  an  exhibition  of  the  mob  spirit, 
and  was  severely  punished  by  the  Japanese  government, 
seventeen  of  the  ringleaders  being  compelled  to  disem- 
bowel themselves,  or  commit  hari-kari,  as  they  call  it, 
I  believe,  in  the  beastly  language  of  this  country.  Since 
that  time  Japan  has  been  as  safe  to  travelers  as  any  part 
of  the  United  States,  and  safer  than  some.  It  is  probable, 
and  natural  as  well,  that  when  Japan  was  thrown  open  to 
the  trade  of  other  nations,  there  was  considerable  feeling 
against  the  foreigners.  They  were  looked  upon  as  in- 
truders— a  people  devoted  to  the  idea  of  overturning  the 
civilization  of  Japan  and  erecting  in  its  stead  a  new  order 
of  things.  In  this  regard  the  judgment  of  the  Japanese 
was  correct.  But  all  feeling  of  resentment  has  passed 
aw^ay,  and  the  people  are  rapidly  conforming  to  European 
and  American  ideas  of  business  and  social  life.  Of  course, 
the  impression  is  as  yet  confined  almost  wholly  to  the 
cities,  but  it  will  spread,  and  many  decades  will  not  ela^^se 
before  the  customs  of  the  Caucasians,  the  bad  as  well  as 
the  good,  will  prevail  largely  in  nearly  every  part  of  the 
empire. 

With  only  seven  days  in  which  to  explore  this  part  of 
Japan,  we  could  not  afford  to  lose  any  time.  So  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  next  day  after  our  arrival  we  paid  a  visit 
to  a  neighboring  waterfall  that  exceeds  any  thing  in  the 
cataract  line  that  we  have  seen.      The  stream  composing 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  97 

the  cascade  Is  fully  twenty  feet  wide,  and  descends  with  a 
direct  fall  of  one  thousand  feet,  followed  by  other  falls  of 
varying  height  until  it  reaches  the  valley  below,  a  distance 
of  three  thousand  five  hundred  feet.  The  surrounding 
scenery,  while  attractively  beautiful,  is  not  so  awe-inspiring 
as  that  of  the  Yosemite,  but  the  cataract,  designated  by 
some  -wholly  unpronounceable  name,  equals  the  celebrated 
Nevada  Fall. 

Among  the  other  points  contiguous  to  the  city  which 
we  visited  was  the  "  Pony  Temple,"  so  called  from  the  fact 
that  here,  in  a  magnificent  temple,  is  kept  a  beautiful 
pony,  with  white  eyes  and  skin,  that  is  devoutly  wor- 
shiped by  every  true  disciple  of  Buddha.  Every  visitor 
is  expected  to  contribute  a  small  amount  to  buy  food  for 
this  sacred  horse.  We,  being  just  a  little  weary  of  this 
constant  repetition  of  beastly  sacredness,  can  guarantee 
that  that  pony  will  never  get  fat  on  the  contribution  we 
made. 

Ever  since  we  were  little  children,  and  first  began  to 
read  of  Oriental  mysteries,  I  have  had  a  desire  to  visit  a 
Chinese  or  Japanese  theater.  So  far,  I  am  happy  to  say, 
as  a  Japanese  play  house  is  concerned,  that  wish  has  been 
satisfied,  that  desire  satiated.  The  theater  which  we  pat- 
ronized was  built  of  bamboo,  about  forty  feet  square. 
This  little  room  contained  the  performers,  the  orchestra, 
and  a  limited  audience.  That  orchestra !  Its  "  concord 
of  sweet  sounds"  still  rings  in  my  ears.  Some  one  has 
said  that  "  music  hath  charms  to  soothe  the  savage  breast." 
Well,  may  be  it  has,  but  that  Japanese  music  had  just  a 
contrary  effect  upon  mine.  I  was  not  soothed  to  any  ex- 
tent. "  On  the  contrary,  quite  the  reverse."  The  orches- 
tra consisted  of  something  that  I  suppose  was  dignified 
with  the  name  of  drum,  but  which  I  am  firmly  convinced 
was   the  rim  of  an  ordinary  cheese  box  with  a  leather 

7 


98  WHA  T  I  SA  W, 

stretched  over  the  ends,  and  a  bamboo  reed  instrument. 
Since  hearing  the  conglomeration  of  hideous  sounds  which 
the  players  produced,  I  have  lost  all  respect  for  cheese 
boxes  and  bamboo.  The  idea  strikes  me  that  perhaps 
from  the  outfit  of  a  Japanese  orchestra  came  our  word 
"  bamboozle."  The  performance  on  the  stage  was  of  the 
nature  of  juggling  or  dextrous  sleight-of-hand.  Among 
other  feats  was  the  spinning  of  a  top  on  the  edge  of  a 
sword  and  on  the  periphery  of  a  fan.  Other  acts  were 
performed,  but  none  exceeding,  or  equaling,  for  that  mat- 
ter, the  feats  of  sleight  performers  often  seen  in  America. 

The  streets  of  Hiogo  are  narrow,  but  clean.  One  fea- 
ture of  American  civilization  the  Japs  have  as  yet  failed 
to  absorb.  They  have  no  idea  wdiatever  of  the  use  of 
a  sidewalk,  and  in  the  cities  and  towns  the  pedestrians 
and  vehicles  are  mixed  together,  often  in  the  greatest 
confusion. 

The  people  here  are  the  antipodes  of  their  enlightened 
fellow  humans  in  more  senses  than  one.  The  carpenters, 
for, instance,  always  draw  the  plane  and  saw  towards  them. 
A  peculiarity  I  note  in  the  construction  of  stone  walls. 
The  stones  are  cut  about  one  foot  square  and  are  laid  dia- 
mond shape  so  that  as  the  walls  settle  they  will  pack 
more  firmly  together.  It  may  be  that  our  builders  could 
learn  a  valuable  lesson  from  this  primitive  practice  of 
the  Japanese.  All  the  crockery  ware  is  actually  painted 
by  hand.  We  witnessed  the  operation,  and  while  it  is 
tedious  and  of  little  profit,  it  serves  to  occupy  the  atten- 
tion and  time  of  many  in  a  land  where  labor  is  cheap 
and  laborers  but  beasts  of  burden. 

On  Saturday,  the  22d,  we  traveled  by  rail  a  distance 
of  fifty  miles  to  Kioto,  once  the  capital  of  all  Japan.  It 
is  still  a  large  city,  with  even  more  than  the  usual  num- 
ber of  temples  and  idols.     In  one  temple  alone  there  are 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  99 

no  less  than  one  thousand  idols,  each  five  feet  high  and 
embellished  with  six  arms.  They  are  made  of  brass,  and 
are  placed  some  inside  the  temple  and  others  on  terraces, 
presenting  an  attractive  sight.  Near  the  same  temple  we 
saw  an  immense  bell,  resting  on  the  ground,  which  is 
fourteen  feet  high  and  ten  inches  thick.  Whether  this 
gigantic  tinkler  was  ever  suspended,  I  could  not  learn. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  not  the  least  exaggerated,  Kioto  is  a 
city  composed  almost  wholly  of  temples.  There  are  tem- 
ples for  monkeys,  temples  for  horses,  temples  for  foxes 
and  temples  devoted  to  nearly  every  species  of  animal 
that  walks  the  earth  or  bird  that  flies  through  the  air. 
At  the  temple  of  foxes,  these  cunning  carnivora  actually 
come  down  from  the  mountains  to  be  fed.  We  are  sur- 
feited with  temples  and  gods.  The  wealth  of  the  city  is 
largely  put  into  these  idolatrous  structures,  and  the  dwell- 
ing houses  are  by  no  means  elegant  piles,  mainly  of  one, 
and  never  more  than  two  stories. 

Every  once  in  a  while,  we  have  an  experience,  some- 
times seriously  annoying  but  commonly  ludicrous.  At 
Kioto,  as  the  result  of  much  pedestrianizing,  one  of  my 
boots  required  repairing,  and  we  entered  the  shop  of  a 
meek-eyed  cobbler  to  negotiate.  The  room  was  a  very 
small  one,  and  served  the  purposes  of  both  shop  and  resi- 
dence. The  cobbler  did  a  reasonably  good  job,  but  I  was 
amused  to  see  him  stop  and  whittle  out  the  necessary 
wooden  pegs.  While  seated  there  awaiting  the  completion 
of  the  work,  the  lady  of  the  house  coolly  arose,  washed 
her  face  and  calmly  removed  her  dress  and  put  on  another 
as  a  preliminary  to  a  walk.  My  reflections  as  I  Avitnessed 
the  operation  were  twofold.  First,  I  thought  I  could 
stand  it  if  she  could,  and  second,  I  was  thankful  that  I 
had  Mrs.  Converse  along  to  protect  me.  I  always  take  her 
with  me  whenever  I  go  out  in  Japan.     She  will  carefully 


100  WHAT  I  SAW, 

see  that  I  am  not  called  upon  to  play  the  very  uncertain 
part  of  Joseph  to  any  of  these  Japanese  Mrs.  Potiphars. 
After  completing  our  errand  with  the  shoemaker,  we 
visited  the  silk  stores  and  feasted  our  wondering  eyes 
upon  embroidered  stuifs  that  would  arouse  the  covetous- 
ness  of  an  ascetic.  They  are  certainly  more  fine  in  qual- 
ity, unique  in  design,  and  elegant  in  finish,  as  well  as  ex- 
orbitant in  price,  than  any  products  of  the  looms  we 
have  ever  seen.  These  silk  dealers  differ  in  one  material 
regard  from  other  Japanese  merchants  or  shopmen.  They 
adhere  tenaciously  to  the  price  first  fixed  upon  their  wares. 
Being  struck  by  the  particular  elegance  of  one  table- 
spread,  I  inquired  the  price,  and  was  told  eighty  dollars. 
The  fabric,  I  have  no  doubt,  was  well  worth  the  money, 
but  I  essayed  the  same  tactics  which  universally  prevail 
in  other  lines  of  trade,  and  offered  him  twenty.  I  do  not 
know  whether  the  amiable  Jap  was  oifended,  but  there 
passed  over  his  normally  mobile  features  a  peculiar  ex- 
pression and  I  was  unable  to  tell  if  it  were  disgust,  sur- 
prise, or  pity.     Anyway,  I  did  not  secure  the  spread. 

Our  hotel  at  Kioto  was  what  might  be  termed  utterly 
Japanese.  In  fact  our  entire  surroundings  in  this  ancient 
capital  of  Japan  were  so  strange,  so  different  from  the 
customs  prevailing  in  America  or  Europe,  as  to  suggest 
the  suspicion  that  perhaps  by  some  occult  process  we  had 
been  transferred  to  another  planet,  peopled  by  a  creation 
wholly  different  from  our  own.  The  hotel  is  of  bamboo, 
one  story  in  height.  We  occupied  a  front  room,  with 
matting-covered  floor,  sliding  doors  and  windows  in  which 
oiled  paper  served  as  a  poor  substitute  for  glass.  The 
fare  is  composed  of  an  infinite  variety  of  dishes,  in  which 
we  could  distinguish  fish,  eggs,  and  rice.  These  edibles 
we  are  familiar  with,  but  beyond  them  we  can  only  sur- 
mise, and  a  very  poor  guess  I  have  no  doubt  it  is. 


AND  HOW  I  SA W  IT.  101 

We  have  studied  and  become  proficient  in  the  manner 
of  Japanese  salutations.  Here  no  one  shakes  hands,  but 
on  meeting  each  bows  ahnost  to  the  ground.  I  expect  it 
would  amuse  my  readers  more  than  a  little  to  witness  us 
going  through  the  necessary  series  of  genuflexions.  But 
there  is  an  old  adage  that  visitors  to  Rome  must  conform 
to  the  customs  of  the  Romans,  and  the  same  should  be 
equally  binding  upon  sojourners  in  Japan. 

At  Kioto  we  were  fifty  miles  beyond  the  treaty  bound- 
aries, and  actually  in  the  heart  of  Japan,  where  not  a  word 
of  English  is  spoken.  This  is,  of  course,  very  incon- 
venient to  travelers,  but  there  is,  the  world  over,  an  un- 
written system  of  signs,  which  are  often  made  to  do  val- 
uable and  necessary  service.  We  were  out  of  the  route 
usually  followed  by  foreigners,  and  of  course  our  appear- 
ance excited  great  curiosity  among  the  natives,  not  un- 
mixed Avitli  consternation  on  the  part  of  the  juveniles. 
Mrs.  Converse  was  viewed  as  a  veritable  curiosity,  occa- 
sioned probably  by  the  elaborateness  of  her  apparel,  it 
being  something  entirely  strange  to  the  simple-minded 
Japs.  On  the  occasion  of  our  visit  to  Kioto  she  wore  a 
heavily  beaded  cape.  These  beads  were  the  source  of 
great  wonder  on  the  part  of  the  natives.  They  would  slip 
up  behind  her  and  eagerly  clutch  a  bead  and  jump  back, 
happy  if  they  had  secured  one  of  the  shining  treasures. 
Doubtless  many  of  the  poor  creatures  had  never  before 
looked  upon  a  white  woman,  and  their  wonderment  is  ex- 
cusable. Our  room  at  the  hotel  was  besieged  by  peddlers, 
whose  wares  consisted  of  a  vast  variety,  both  beautiful 
and  curious.  These  peripatetic  venders  differ  from  the  silk 
merchants  in  not  having  established  the  rigid  "  one  price  " 
system.  If  they  ask  ten  dollars  for  an  article,  you  can 
very  readily  obtain  it  for  three,  or  even  less. 

I  understand  there  are  some  missionaries  at  Kioto,  but 


102  WHAT  I  SAW, 

we  did  not  know  where  or  how  to  find  them.  We  were 
disappointed  much  thereby,  as  they  would  have  been  to  us 
an  invakiable  aid  in  pursuing  our  course  of  sight-seeing. 

That  part  of  Japan  contiguous  to  Kioto,  and  from 
thence  to  Osaka  and  back  to  Hiogo,  is  devoted  largely  to 
the  cultivation  of  tea  and  rice.  It  is  probable  that  these 
crops  extend  over  most  parts  of  the  empire,  but  I  speak 
only  of  what  we  have  seen.  Tea  grows  on  the  foot-hills, 
in  rows  about  five  feet  apart.  The  bushes  are  about 
three  feet  higK.  The  tea  as  made  from  the  virgin  leaf  is 
much  superior  to  that  we  get  in  the  States.  The  reason 
why  the  tea  we  use  in  America  is  so  inferior  to  that  ob- 
tained in  Japan  or  China  is  that  the  exported  article  is 
necessarily  fired  or  cooked  before  shipped.  The  leaves 
would  be  spoiled  by  the  darajaness  of  a  sea  voyage  if  this 
was  not  done.  This  firing  or  cooking  destroys,  to  a  great 
extent,  the  flavor  which  distinguishes  the  tea  brewed  from 
the  virgin  plant.  Rice  grows  in  the  low  grounds,  like  in 
our  Southern  States,  but  comes  up  from  the  same  roots 
for  several  consecutive  years.  The  ground,  of  course,  is 
periodically  flooded.  At  this  season  of  the  year  the  crop 
is  being  harvested. 

Perhaps  it  should  not  be  the  source  of  surprise,  but  I 
have  been  forcibly  struck  with  the  primitive  way  in  which 
farm  labor  of  all  kinds  is  conducted  in  Japan.  Heretofore 
I  have  spoken  briefly  of  the  manner  in  which  these  oper- 
ations are  carried  on  in  the  vicinity  of  Yokohama.  While 
in  Kioto  we  witnessed  the  working  of  a  flour  mill  which  is 
something  of  an  improvement  upon  others,  and  undoubt- 
edly is  looked  upon  by  the  builder  as  a  praiseworthy 
achievement  of  applied  mechanical  genius.  A  large  stone 
is  hollowed  out  for  a  mortar.  A  wooden  hammer  or 
pestle  is  fitted  into  this,  and  connected  to  a  plank  that  is 
balanced  across  a  beam,  and  from  the  other  end  a  naked 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  103 

man  operates  the  pounding  process  by  depressing  the  lever 
and  then,  by  letting  it  go,  allowing  the  hammer  to  fall 
upon  the  millet  or  other  grain  deposited  in  the  mortar. 
Cleaning  or  in  any  way  removing  the  bran  from  the  flour 
thus  imperfectly  produced  is  unknown,  and  the  entire 
nauseating  mess  is  made  into  bread  for  the  natives,  which 
it  must  require  a  determined  will  to  swallow  and  a  strong 
stomach  to  retain.  I  more  than  suspect,  however,  that 
the  flour  thus  obtained  is  healthier  than  the  compounds  of 
pulverized  wheat,  marble  dust,  lime,  and  plaster-of-paris 
which  irritate  the  stomachs  of  people  in  more  civilized 
countries.  The  process  of  harvesting  is  absolutely  amusing. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  say  that  the  Japanese  have  no  self- 
binding  reapers ;  neither  have  they  learned  the  secret  of 
the  old-fashioned  cradle.  They  adhere  to  the  primitive 
sickle,  and  do  not  use  that  with  the  vim  and  vigor 
our  grandfathers  did.  A  Japanese  harvester  grasps  the 
sickle  mechanically  in  his  hand,  seats  himself  upon  the 
ground,  and  in  the  most  leisurely  manner  possible  clips 
off"  the  grain  as  far  on  each  hand  and  in  front  as  he  can 
reach.  Then  he  hops  forward,  much  after  the  manner  of 
a  frog,  and  repeats  the  operation.  I  should  estimate  that 
a  really  industrious  Jap  could  harvest,  perhaps,  as  much 
as  an  acre  in  a  week  of  studious  application. 


104  WHAT  I  SAW, 


X. 


Still  in  the  Land  op  the  Japs — Osaka — Its  Appearance  and  Sur- 
roundings—Observations Upon  the  People  and  Their  Cus- 
toms—The Expenses  of  a  Trip  to  the  Mikado's  Empire — Many 
Pleasures  and  Some  Drawbacks  Attending  it. 

HiOGO,  Japan,  October  26,  1881. 

In  my  last  I  left  those  of  our  friends  who  care  to  fol- 
low us  in  our  wanderings  at  Kioto,  metaphorically,  of 
course,  with  a  promise  to  speak  of  our  visit  to  Osaka,  and 
the  points  of  interest  there  developed.  Osaka  is  twenty 
miles  distant  from  Hiogo,  and  seemingly  bears  the  same 
relation  to  the  latter  that  Yeddo  does  to  Yokohama.  As 
the  result  largely  of  removals  to  the  more  thrifty  and  pro- 
gressive city  of  Yokohama,  the  population  of  Yeddo  has 
been  largely  reduced  since  the  opening  of  the  empire  to 
foreign  trade  and  immigration.  This  has,  however,  not 
proven  the  case  in  the  relations  of  Hiogo  and  Osaka. 
While  the  former  has  increased  in  population  and  impor- 
tance, the  latter  has  well  held  its  position.  The  population 
of  Osaka  is  placed  at  half  a  million.  It  may  be  more  or 
less.  So  far  as  our  observation  is  Avorthy  of  consideration, 
we  can  only  say  that  it  is  a  large,  bustling  city,  with  the 
usual  narrow  streets  and  one-story  residences  and  shops, 
where  every  one  seems  busy — engaged  in  hurriedly  doing 
something.  The  reason  why  Osaka  is  not,  and  probably 
never  can  be,  a  port  of  commercial  importance  is  found  in 
the  bar  which  effectually  obstructs  the  entrance  into  the 
bay  of  vessels  drawing  more  than  four  feet  of  water.     The 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  105 

confluence  of  two  rivers  with  the  sea  forms  the  harbor  of 
Osaka.  Before  entering  the  bay  these  rivers  are  formed 
into  canals,  which  are  connected  at  brief  inte»vals  by  cross 
canals,  forming  convenient  means  of  communication  with 
most  parts  of  the  city  by  the  immense  flotilla  of  shallops, 
which  at  all  times  crowd  the  aqueous  thoroughfares. 
These  boats  are  the  homes  of  thousands  of  the  poojile, 
who  not  only  live  upon  the  water,  but  ply  their  various 
vocations  as  industriously  and  apparently  as  successfully  as 
their  brethren  upon  the  land.  The  bay  or  gulf  of  Osaka 
is  a  picturesque  body  of  water,  whose  shores  are  thickly 
studded  with  villages,  clustering  together  down  to  the 
water  edge.  The  hills  slope  abruptly,  and  are  terraced 
and  irrigated  so  that  every  foot  of  the  soil  is  made  pro- 
ductive to  an  extent  scarcely  to  be  imagined  in  the  States. 
This  systematic  and  thorough  cultivation  is  not,  as  we  had 
supposed,  simply  the  result  of  thriftiness  upon  the  part  of 
the  people.  It  is,  like  most  other  things  in  Japan,  con- 
trolled by  law.  An  imperial  edict,  so  old  that  history 
does  not  mention  the  date,  compels  the  thorough  cultiva- 
tion of  the  land,  on  penalty  of  confiscation.  The  Mikado 
was  doubtless  influenced  by  two  considerations  in  thus 
compelling  industry  on  the  part  of  his  subjects.  First,  in 
a  population  so  dense  as  that  of  Japan,  any  neglect  of  the 
development  of  the  resources  of  the  soil  would  curtail  the 
means  of  continued  existence  to  an  alarming  extent ;  and 
second,  the  revenues  of  the  empire  are  naturally  increased 
in  proportion  as  the  production  is  increased.  In  Japan 
the  complaint  of  land  "wearing  out"  is  never  heard.  On 
the  contrary,  soil  that  was  originally  of  an  inferior  quality 
has  been  so  carefully  manured  as  to  have  reached  a  degree 
of  productiveness  absolutely  astonishing.  All  the  night 
soil  from  the  cities  is  carefully  preserved  and  utilized. 
Although  the  Japs  are  primitive  in  their  modes  of  culti- 


106  WHAT  I  SAW, 

vation,  as  in  every  thing  else,  yet,  in  the  matter  of  securing 
and  preserving  the  productiveness  of  the  soil  they  could 
teach  the  American  agriculturists.  The  people  here  learned 
from  necessity,  and  it  is  probable  that,  centuries  hence, 
when  the  population  of  the  United  States  becomes  as  dense 
as  is  now  that  of  Japan,  the  American  farmers  will  receive 
instruction  from  the  same  remorseless  teacher. 

Situated  on  the  summit  of  the  highest  mountain  con- 
tiguous to  the  city  of  Osaka  is  the  "  Temple  of  the  Moon." 
It  is  a  beautiful  structure  in  the  form  of  a  tower,  each 
story  having  a  roof  projecting  from  the  building  and  rest- 
ing upon  white  columns.  The  roofs  are  gilded,  and  in  the 
sunlight  shine  with  dazzling  brilliancy.  AVe  made  our 
observations  from  a  distance,  as  the  constant  succession  of 
temples  has  produced  a  mental  surfeit.  Just  why  a  temple 
should  be  erected  to  the  moon  we  did  not  learn.  It  is 
probably  for  the  same  reason  that  similar  edifices  are  ded- 
icated to  horses,  cattle,  monkeys,  foxes,  and  pigeons.  The 
Japs  have  a  multitude  of  deities — enough,  I  should  think, 
to  supply  the  whole  world  with  a  (not  very)  choice  variety 
of  gods. 

The  boast  of  Osaka  is  its  castle  or  citadel,  an  imperial 
residence  and  fortress  of  the  former  tycoons.  We  were 
kindly  permitted  to  examine  the  immense  structure  at  our 
leisure.  It  occupies,  I  should  estimate,  about  one  hundred 
acres  of  ground,  the  whole  surrounded  by  a  wall  eighty 
feet  in  height  and  a  deep  moat.  The  first  thing  to  arouse 
the  wonder  of  the  beholder  as  he  nears  the  wall  is  the 
immense  stones  used  in  its  construction,  many  of  which 
are  forty  feet  long,  fifteen  feet  high,  and  six  feet  thick. 
The  citadel,  it  must  be  remembered,  is  situated  upon  a 
high  hill,  and  many  of  these  immense  stones  are  placed 
in  the  wall  thirty  feet  above  its  base.  By  what  means 
were  these  stones  conveyed  from  the  distant  quarries  and 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  107 

placed  in  position  in  the  wall?  Some  mechanical  appli- 
ances, unknown  at  the  present  clay,  must  have  been  used. 
It  is  impossible  that  they  could  have  been  handled  with- 
out, as  not  a  sufficient  number  of  men  could  get  hold  to 
move  them,  much  less  transport  them  for  miles  and  ele- 
vate them  to  their  present  positions.  Neither  is  there  any 
mechanical  engine  of  the  present  day,  the  outgrowth  of 
civilization  and  scientific  discovery,  that  could  accomplish 
the  task. 

The  castle  previous  to  the  civil  war  of  1864-6  was 
garrisoned  by  the  Tycoon,  but  now  it  is  a  school  of  mili- 
tary instruction.  We  witnessed  the  drill  of  the  soldiers, 
and  were  more  than  a  little  amused  at  the  comical  appear- 
ance of  the  little  bowlegged  Japs,  in  European  uniforms, 
under  the  instruction  of  French  officers,  as  they  awk- 
wardly passed  through  the  evolutions.  The  Mikado's 
army,  as  I  understand,  amounts  to  forty-three  thousand 
men  on  a  peace  footing,  as  at  present,  with  drilled  re- 
serves sufficient  to  increase  it  to  ninety  thousand.  I  was 
not  very  favorably  impressed  with  the  Japanese  soldiers. 
They  are  pretty  well  supplied  with  European  arms,  but 
they  do  not  seem  to  handle  either  their  arms  or  them- 
selves in  a  manner  calculated  to  produce  a  feeling  of  awe 
in  the  minds  of  enemies.  The  Japanese  is  not  a  warlike 
race,  and  it  requires  a  ludicrous  stretch  of  the  imagination 
to  fancy  the  mild-mannered  little  fellows  engaged  in  war. 

At  Osaka  we  were  the  victims  of  another  "  episode," 
seemingly  much  more  serious  than  that  in  the  cobbler's 
shop  mentioned  in  my  last  letter.  When  we  started  out 
from  the  hotel  T  paid  our  coolie  attendants,  and  supposed 
,  that  every  thing  was  satisfactory.  Suddenly  there  was 
trouble,  loud  talk,  and  seemingly  threatening  gesticula- 
tions. I  was  astonished,  bewildered,  and,  I  may  as  well 
admit,  frightened.     We  were  not  aware  that  we  had  done 


108  WHAT  1  SAW, 

any  thing  to  cause  all  this  noisy  hubbub  and  dire  confu- 
sion, and  did  not  know  what  to  make  of  it.  Just  as  I 
was  making  up  my  mind  that  we  would  probably  be  or- 
dered at  once  to  execution,  a  policeman  who  fortunately 
could  speak  a  few  words  of  English,  stepped  up  and  in- 
formed us  that  we  owed  our  attendants  sixty  cents. 
Blessed  relief!  The  money  was  instantly  paid,  and  quiet 
reigned  once  more  in  Osaka.  They  could  have  had  twice 
as  many  dollars  for  the  asking.  My  readers  will  observe 
that  in  speaking  of  this  and  other  nerv^e-rasping  experi- 
ences I  usually  use  the  first  person  singular.  To  8ay 
"  we '"'  in  detailing  the  troubled  feelings  would  be  a  gross 
injustice  to  my  worthy  companion.  She  never  gets  fright- 
ened, and  is  as  iraperturbably  cool  in  the  presence  of  a 
howling  Japanese  mob  as  she  was  among  the  Apache  In- 
dians of  Arizona.  She  was,  however,  aroused  to  resent- 
ment at  the  action  of  the  good-natured  policeman  who  in- 
dulged in  a  hearty  laugh  at  our  expense.  She  does  not 
like  to  be  laughed  at.  Neither  do  I,  but  I  w^ould  rather, 
much  rather,  be  the  object  of  a  Japanese  joke  than  the 
subject  of  a  Japanese  headsman. 

Osaka  is  more  regularly  laid  out  than  any  Japanese 
city  we  have  seen,  and  the  streets,  though  narrow,  are 
clean.  The  myriad  of  bridges  crossing  the  canals  are 
models  of  light  neatness,  built  of  cedar,  and  of  a  strength 
which  one  would  not  expect  from  their  appearance. 

The  traveler  in  Japan  is  led  to  wonder  why,  in  a  coun- 
try Avhere  building  stone  is  so  cheap,  it  is  not  used  for 
that  purpose  to  a  greater  extent.  The  Japanese  have 
learned  by  experience  that  the  lighter  the  material  used 
in  constructing  their  dwellings  the  greater  the  safety  of 
the  inmates.  Earthquakes  are  indigenous  to  Japan.  Here 
they  flourish  to  an  extent  almost  unknown  elsewhere.  In 
fact,  I  might  say  that  terrestrial  uneasiness  is  the  normal 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  109 

condition  of  Japan.  The  earth  seems  to  be  afflicted  witli 
a  kind  of  intermittent  St.  Vitus'  dance,  with  the  inter- 
missions of  brief  duration  and  not  at  all  times  well  de- 
fined. Some  of  the  earthquakes  during  the  past  have  been 
very  destructive,  surpassing  any  others  in  history,  on  one 
occasion  destroying  over  one  hundred  thousand  lives  in 
the  city  of  Yeddo  alone.  The  light  bamboo  frames  and 
thatched  roofs  of  which  the  Japanese  houses  are  usually 
composed,  while  not  absolutely  earthquake  proof,  are  much 
nearer  so  than  would  be  buildings  of  brick  or  stone,  and 
if  they  do  rattle  down  around  the  ears  of  the  inmates,  but 
little  injury  is  inflicted.  So  far  as  our  observation  ex- 
tends, I  am  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  more  than 
three  thousand  islands  which  compose  the  empire  of  Japan 
are  of  ,volcanic  formation,  thrown  up  in  an  age  long  past 
by  some  grand  upheaval  of  nature,  before  the  earth  had 
settled  down  to  its  present  comparative  quietude.  The 
abundance  of  fresh  water  is  a  23eculiarity  of  the  country. 
There  are  numerous  rivers  which,  though  short,  pour  into 
the  sea  an  immense  volume  of  water.  Owing  to  the  hilly 
nature  of  the  country,  these  streams,  frequently  until  they 
approach  within  a  short  distance  of  the  mouth,  are  simply 
vast  mountain  torrents,  and  consequently  not  navigable. 
I  believe  there  is  not  a  river  in  Japan  which  is  navigable 
for  a  distance  of  more  than  ten  miles  from  its  mouth. 
Springs  bubble  from  the  hills  and  mountains  in  profusion, 
providing  an  abundance  of  water  for  irrigating  purposes, 
which,  in  some  places,  is  absolutely  necessary.  In  many 
sections  a  bamboo  pole  thrust  into  the  ground  a  foot  or 
two  and  withdrawn  will  be  followed  by  a  jet  of  water, 
which  will  continue  to  flow  as  long  as  the  orifice  remains 
unobstructed. 

Social  life  In  Japan  differs  to  some  extent  from  that 
of  other  Oriental  nations.     Polygamy  is  not  permitted. 


110  WHAT  I  SAW, 

even  among  the  nobility.  While,  however,  no  man  is 
allowed  more  than  one  wife,  he  can  have  as  many  concn- 
bines  as  his  wealth  may  permit  or  his  inclinations  snggest. 
Prostitution,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  seems  to  be  the  rule  in 
Japan  and  virtue  the  exception.  I  am  told  that  formerly 
the  loose  classes  were  confined  to  particular  sections  of  the 
cities,  but  if  such  a  law  is  now  in  existence  it  is  a  dead 
letter,  as  the  houses  of  "  easy  access  "  seem  to  exist  every- 
where, being  perhaps  a  little  more  numerous  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  temples.  I  would  not  intimate  that  such  an  arrange- 
ment is  for  the  convenience  of  the  priests,  but  the  fact  is 
suggestive  nevertheless.  The  open  solicitation  upon  the 
streets  is  a  little  embarrassing,  particularly  when  one  is 
accompanied  by  a  lady,  but  the  natives  view  such  things 
as  natural  enough  and  perfectly  legitimate,  and  "^-e  can 
not  do  better  than  to  follow  their  example  in  that  regard. 
An  unwedded  female  of  marriageable  age  is  considered  a 
disgrace,  and  the  poor  creatures  probably  fall  naturally 
into  evil  ways.  I  notice  that  in  the  cities  the  custom  of 
married  women  shaving  their  eyebrows  and  blacking  their 
teeth  is  rapidly  dying  out,  as  also  the  practice  of  the  men 
shaving  the  crown  of  the  head.  The  male  sex  adopts  the 
costumes  and  habits  of  civilization  much  more  readily 
than  their  sisters.  Manv  of  the  former  have  discarded 
the  native  garments  entirely,  and  appear  upon  the  streets 
and  in  the  shops  clad  in  clothing  of  European  and  Ameri- 
can style.  The  women,  however,  cling  tenaciously  to  the 
outre  habiliments  which  have  distinguished  the  race  for 
perhaps  countless  centuries.  I  speak  here  of  the  middle 
classes,  the  merchants,  shopmen,  etc.,  and  all  those  en- 
gaged in  trade.  The  nobility,  so  far  at  least  as  our  ob- 
servation extended,  continue  the  styles  adopted  by  their 
forefathers.  The  coolies,  or  lower  classes,  are  adorned 
mainly  as  provided  by  nature.     This  applies  only,  how- 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  Ill 

ever,  to  the  males.  The  females  are  clad  In  a  profusion 
of  garments,  not  very  elegant  or  tasteful,  and  of  a  pecul- 
iarity of  design  that  would  horrify  the  mantua-makers  of 
America,  but  still  more  than  sufficient  to  protect  their 
modesty ;  that  is,  supposing  they  are  possessed  of  any  such 
a  virtue,  which  I  am  much  disposed  to  doubt — at  least  I 
have  never  been  able  to  discover  it.  Nor  does  this  lack 
of  modesty,  as  we  Americans  understand  the  term,  attach 
only  to  the  coolies.  All  classes  frequent  the  bathing  places, 
where,  in  the  purity  of  nature,  they  mingle  irrespective  of 
sex.  The  picture  presented  by  a  mother  supplying  her 
youthful  ofispring  with  the  sustenance  provided  by  nature, 
with  an  exposure  of  maternal  charms  that  would  shock  an 
American  woman,  is  a  common,  I  might  say  a  universal, 
street  scene.  At  first  I  was  horrified,  but  I  guess  I  must 
be  getting  used  to  it.  Such  things  I  had  never  witnessed 
since  the  days  when  my  own  maternal  sustenance  was 
withdrawn,  now  some  several  years  since.  There  is  an 
old  saying  that  "  much  depends  upon  how  a  person  was 
raised."  Custom  makes  all  laws  except  divine,  and  what 
we  view  as  violations  of  the  fundamental  principles  of 
decency  is  looked  upon  by  our  Japanese  brethren  as  within 
the  bounds  of  strict  propriety. 

My  readers  must  remember  that  in  our  brief  travels  in 
Japan  we  have  touched  only  the  southern  and  eastern 
portions  of  the  Island  of  Niphon,  composing  the  main  part 
of  the  empire.  The  country  extends  over  about  twenty- 
five  degrees  of  latitude,  or  from  the  thirtieth  to  the  fifty- 
fifth  parallel.  The  cities  of  Yokohama,  Yeddo,  Hiogo, 
Kioto,  and  Osaka  are  located  In  the  south  and  east  parts. 
In  addition  to  these  cities,  we  have  visited,  I  should  judge, 
nearly  one  hundred  villages.  These  are  located  In  the 
valleys  or  on  the  plateaus,  where  tea  and  rice  can  be 
grown.  The  mountains  produce  little  except  wood  of  the 
pine  species,  although  I  have  no  doubt  wheat  and  others 


112  WHAT  I  SAW, 

of  the  more  hardy  cereals  are  cultivated  to  some  extent. 
In  the  low  portions  the  bamboo  flourishes.  The  trees 
frequently  reach  a  height  of  from  sixty  to  eighty  feet,  and 
five  or  eight  inches  in  diameter.  The  wood  is  used  for 
every  conceivable  purpose  except  that  of  food.  I  have 
never  yet  heard  of  a  Japanese  eating  bamboo,  but  I  would 
not  be  at  all  surprised  to  learn  that  they  did. 

In  America  we  hear  much  of  Japanese  lacquer-ware, 
and  frequently  see  specimens  that  are  represented  to  be 
genuine.  All  such  claims  are  spurious.  Genuine  Japan- 
ese lacquer  work,  though  sometimes  doubtless  seen  in  the 
States,  is  so  co.^tly  as  to  be  far  beyond  the  reach  of  plebeians 
of  the  common  herd.  In  its  primitive  state  the  lacquer  is 
the  sap  from  a  tree.  It  is  brought  to  a  heat  and  a  varnish 
made.  This  is  applied  to  the  ware,  in  successive  coats, 
and  the  best  grade  takes  fully  twenty  years  to  complete, 
applying  the  substance  as  often  as  the  previous  application 
dries.  When  properly  done,  it  will  resist  fire,  water,  and 
every  other  destructive  agency  known. 

What  is  called  "Satsuma  stone-ware"  is  a  peculiar 
kind  of  china  ware,  made  some  three  hundred  years  ago, 
under  the  Satsama  reign.  The  art  of  its  manufacture  has 
been  lost,  and  the  ware  is  very  rare  and  costly,  a  plate 
eight  inches  in  diameter  selling  readily  at  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  dollars.  Its  beauty  lies  in  the  artistic  designs  of 
the  ornamentation,  which  usually  consists  of  an  elaborate 
painting,  complete  in  all  its  details,  representing  some 
scene  in  Japanese  landscape,  or  sketch  of  Japanese  life. 

If  any  of  my  readers  should  fancy  a  flying  trip  to  the 
land  of  the  Japs,  they  will  be  interested  in  a  statement  of 
the  expenses,  which  I  herewith  append: 

New  York  to  California, $150  00 

California  to  Japan, 250  00 

Four  weeks  in  Japan,  hotel  bills,  attendants,  etc.,  .   .    150  00 
Keturn  to  New  York, 400  00 

$950  00 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  113 

By  purchasing  a  round  trip  ticket  on  the  stearuer  from 
San  Francisco  to  Yokohama  you  can  secure  a  reduction 
of  one-fourth.  This,  understand,  is  the  absolutely  neces- 
sary expense.  Traveling  in  Japan  is  like  traveling  every- 
where else.  While  there  is  a  certain  amount  which  you 
must  spend,  you  can  increase  your  expenses  indefinitely. 
These  four  weeks  in  Japan  will  enable  you  to  visit  only  a 
small  jjart  of  the  empire,  but  sufficient  to  gain  an  insight 
into  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  jjeople.  I  can  prom- 
ise any  one  that  they  will  see  many  curious  things,  many 
more,  in  fact,  than  I  have  had  time  or  space  to  mention, 
and  many  others  a  description  of  which  would  not  look 
well  in  print.  Traveling  in  Japan  is  as  safe  as  any- 
where in  the  world,  albeit  a  little  inconvenient,  owing 
to  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  language.  Much  information 
of  a  curious  and  valuable  character  is  for  this  reason  lost; 
but  a  limited  knowledge  of  English,  sufficient  for  purposes 
of  ordinary  intercourse,  is  being  secured  by  many  of  the 
natives  in  the  cities,  and  within  ten  years  sight-seeing  in 
Japan  will  become  much  more  satisfactory.  The  great 
secret  in  traveling  is  to  never  be  in  a  hurry.  Take  every 
thing  philosophically.  The  chances  are  ten  to  one  that  you 
are  just  as  much  of  a  curiosity  to  the  natives  as  they  are  to 
you,  and  they  are  just  as  anxious  to  satisfy  their  thirst  for 
information  as  you  are.  In  Japan  the  coolie  attendants 
can  be  thoroughly  depended  upon.  We  have  had  no 
fear  among  them.  Traveling  over  and  through  the  rough 
mountain  passes,  many  not  more  than  ten  feet  wide  and 
hundreds  high,  where  they  could  have  disposed  of  us  with 
the  greatest  facility,  we  felt  not  a  tremor  of  uneasiness ; 
no  suspicion  of  their  faithfulness.  As  a  class,  I  am  satis- 
fied they  are  kind  and  honest,  as  I  know  they  are  safe 
companions. 

Naturally  enough  we  are  beginning  to  feel  anxious  for 

8 


114  WHAT  I  SAW, 

news  from  home.  The  day  we  sailed  from  San  Francisco 
we  learned  of  the  death  of  President  Garfield,  which  took 
place  the  night  before.  Nothing  additional  has  come  to 
us,  as  this  was  all  the  information  telegraphed  to  the 
American  minister  at  Yeddo.  We  are  now  sixty  days  from 
home,  and  in  eighty  we  hope  to  hear  from  our  friends. 

Tliis  is  the  last  letter  from  Japan.  We  have  yet  two 
points  to  visit  in  the  Mikado's  empire,  where  we  will  tarry 
for  a  day  each,  a  brief  account  of  which  will  ajjpear  in 
my  next,  dated  Shanghai,  China,  where  we  will  arrive 
about  the  2d  or  3d  of  November.  Hereafter  my  letters 
will  go  by  the  way  of  India,  the  Suez  Canal,  and  Liver- 
pool. Heretofore  they  have  been  sent  by  way  of  San 
Francisco.  So  far,  we  have  followed  our  detailed  pro- 
gramme closely,  and  hope  equal  good  fortune,  health,  and 
freedom  from  delays  will  follow  us  to  the  end,  wliich  will 
bring  us  back  to  home  and  the  greeting  of  friends  about 
the  first  of  June. 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  115 


XI. 


Farewell  to  the  Land  of  the  Mikado — Visit  to  Nagasaki  and 
Sail  for  China — Interesting  Historical  Sketch  of  Japan — 
Its  Religion,  Resources,  and  Manufactures. 

In  the  Yellow  Sea,  between  Japan  and  China,  ) 

Noiionbcr  i,  1881.  j 

My  last  left  us  in  the  Japanese  city  of  Hiogo,  expect- 
ing to  sail  the  following  day  for  Nagasaki  and  thence  to 
China.  While  in  the  port  of  Hiogo  we  were  the  recipi- 
ents of  kind  courtesies  from  Lieutenant  Tottenham,  of 
Her  Majesty's  ship,  Carracas.  The  invitation  to  visit 
the  vessel  was  accepted  in  the  same  spirit  of  kindness  in 
which  it  was  tendered,  and  at  3  P.  M.  the  officer  sent  a 
boat  for  us,  and  we  were  welcomed  on  board  by  the  lieu- 
tenant and  other  officers  in  the  courtly  m.anner  which  dis- 
tinguishes British  naval  officials.  After  a  lunch,  washed 
down  with  fragrant  tea  and  another  decoction  bearing  a 
suspicious  aroma  that  carried  us  back  to  the  elysian  fields 
of  Kentucky,  we  were  shown  over  the  vessel,  and  many 
things  which  our  limited  naval  education  had  not  enabled 
us  to  thoroughly  comprehend  were  courteously  explained. 
The  vessel  is  a  model  of  neatness  in  every  part,  and  the 
discipline  so  thorough  that  every  seaman  has  the  appear- 
ance and  action  of  an  educated  gentleman.  We  parted 
with  the  Englishmen  after  a  hearty  hand-shake  and  a 
promise  to  meet  again  in  China,  and  were  set  on  shore 
by  the  ship's  boat.  In  the  harbor  at  the  time  were 
the  American  steam  corvettes  Ale^-t  and  Asliuelot.  Of 
course,  private  citizens,  traveling  as  we  do,  as  unostenta- 


116  WHAT  I  SAW, 

tious  sight-seers,  have  no  claims  upon  the  consideration 
of  the  officers  of  the  navy  whom  they  may  chance  to  meet 
in  foreign  ports,  but  we  could  not  but  contrast  the  court- 
esy of  the  Englishmen  with  the  haughty  reserve  of  the 
Americans,  who  failed  to  recognize  the  presence  of  their 
countrymen  even  by  the  commonest  courtesies. 

Our  vessel  was  delayed  for  a  day  at  Hiogo,  and  we 
improved  the  opportunity  for  another  excursion  into  the 
country,  a  distance  of  some  thirty  miles.  We  left  the  city 
at  seven  in  the  morning,  with  double  teams  of  coolies, 
driven  tandem,  for  the  town  of  Arama.  In  not  many  re- 
spects did  this  excursion  differ  from  others  we  had  made 
previously.  The  mountain  passes  were  perhaps  a  little 
more  precipitous,  but  even  in  a  strange  country  there  is  a 
sameness  which  is  only  saved  from  monotony  by  the  nov- 
elty of  every  thing  one  sees  throughout  the  land.  Nature 
the  world  over  is  an  architect  of  unsurpassed  skill,  and 
here  in  Japan  she  has  seemingly  provided  to  some  extent 
for  the  convenience  of  humanity  where  the  limited  capac- 
ity of  the  natives  is  unable  to  overcome  the  obstacles. 
These  passes  through,  or  rather  over,  the  mountains  are 
narrow  gorges,  scarcely  six  feet  wide,  and  at  times  but  a 
footpath  Avindiug  along  the  sides  of  immense  peaks  tower- 
ing on  one  hand  hundreds  of  feet  above,  and  on  the  other 
sinking  to  a  frightful  depth  below.  In  one  through  which 
we  passed  on  this  occasion  the  sun  is  not  seen  except  be- 
tween eleven  and  two  o'clock.  Such  scenery,  so  far  as 
our  observation  extends,  is  surpassed  only  by  that  in  Cali- 
fornia. It  may  be  that  more  grand,  awe-inspiring  pictures 
of  the  gigantic  handiwork  of  nature  may  present  them- 
selves in  other  countries  which  we  shall  visit,  but  I  speak 
only  of  that  which  we  have  seen,  deferring  an  opinion 
upon  that  which  is  before  us  until  it  is  reached.  The  vil- 
lage of  Arama  is  distant  from  Hiogo  fifteen  miles,  but 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  117 

only  four  if  it  were  possible  to  bore  a  hole  through  the 
mountain.  The  town  is  noted  for  the  manufacture  of 
baskets,  which  are  of  every  conceivable  kind  and  shape, 
made  of  bamboo.  As  I  have  previously  remarked,  this 
material  is  used  in  Japan  for  every  thing  except  food. 

"While  at  Arama  we  visited  the  bath  house,  where  the 
natives,  of  both  sexes,  old  and  young,  mingled,  clothed 
only  in  the  garments  of  nature.  It  was  a  severe  shock  to 
Eastern  feelings  in  the  way  of  modesty;  but,  after  all,  I 
suppose  decency  in  appearance  is  but  the  result  of  educa- 
tion. What  we  in  the  States  are  taught  to  view  as  fla- 
grant violations  of  propriety  our  more  primitive  antipodes 
look  upon  with  complacency.  "  Evil  be  to  him  who  evil 
thinks"  is  a  philosophical  aphorism  as  applicable  in  the 
present  day  as  it  was  when  enunciated  by  the  good  Queen 
Bess  when  Lord  Raleigh  restored  her  lost  garter. 

They  have  at  Arama  a  peculiar  mineral  spring,  which 
spouts  a  reasonably  good  article  of  lemonade,  and,  with 
the  addition  of  a  modicum  of  sugar,  becomes  quite  palata- 
ble. The  "  fly,"  which  appeals  so  strongly  to  the  educated 
appetite  of  intelligent  Americans,  it  is  necessary  to  bring 
from  the  coast.  This  ready-made  lemonade  is  a  much 
better  article  than  the  strawberry  colored  beverage  pro- 
vided by  the  attaches  of  circuses  in  America. 

After  partaking  to  our  satisfaction  of  the  extract  of 
something  prepared  in  the  very  mysterious  laboratory  of 
nature  which  strangely  resembles  the  expressed  juice  of  the 
lemon,  we  repaired  to  the  hotel  of  the  village  for  lunch. 
The  proprietor  of  the  hotel  at  Hiogo  had  prepared  us  a 
very  palatable  repast,  and  this  our  ever  ready  and  accom- 
modating attendants  spread  upon  the  veranda  of  the  hotel. 
As  we  sat  there,  sipping  our  tea,  a  veritable  "  nectar  of  the 
gods,"  our  eyes  wandered  over  a  scene  of  beauty  which 
does  not  often  greet  human  eyes.     Mountain  tops,  piled 


118  WHAT  I  SAW, 

seemingly  upon  each  other,  stretched  away  into  the  dim 
distance,  interspersed  M"ith  vast  canyons  and  cascades  of 
surpassing  grandeur.  The  eyes  never  weary  of  studying 
this  grand,  inspiring  view.  For  the  time  I  wished  for  the 
pen  of  a  Bayard  Taylor  or  the  brush  of  a  Bierstadt,  that 
I  might  place  before  my  readers  the  picture  as  it  stretched 
out  before  us.  After  lunch  we  climbed  up  farther,  a  dis- 
tance of  thirteen  hundred  feet,  through  a  pass  that  did 
not  exceed  six  ieet  in  width,  with  walls  of  solid  granite 
towering  above  to  a  very  indefinite  height.  At  the  end 
of  the  pass  is  a  beautiful  cascade,  well  worth  the  journey 
to  witness,  though  at  the  same  time  but  a  counterpart  of 
others  we  had  seen  and  endeavored  to  describe.  The  water 
comes  from  above — where,  the  Lord  only  knows,  as  the 
mountains  beyond  are  impossible  of  ascent.  At  this  point 
we  remained  some  three  hours,  and  then  began  the  descent, 
our  coolies  thundering  along,  down  the  narrow  passes, 
turning  the  sharp  corners  with  a  whisk  that  was  trying  to 
untutored  nerves.  We  each  drew  a  long  breath  of  relief 
as  we  pulled  up  before  the  hotel  at  Hiogo,  glad  that  the 
dangers  were  over,  yet  sorry  that  the  scenes  we  had 
viewed  with  so  much  pleasure  had  passed  from  our  sight 
for  ever. 

On  the  29th  we  sailed  from  Hiogo  on  a  Japanese 
steamer  for  Nagasaki,  the  last  point  at  which  we  will  tarry 
in  Japan.  The  scenery,  as  we  plowed  leisurely  through 
the  inland  sea,  was  but  a  repetition  of  that  which  greeted 
us  on  the  voyage  from  Yokohama  to  Hiogo,  more  beauti- 
ful, perhaps,  in  its  succession  of  verdure-clad  islands — a 
very  elysium  upon  earth.  The  islands  in  many  cases 
seem  like  vast  plants  resting  upon  the  surface  of  the  water, 
and  so  numerous  are  they  that  the  steamer  winds  in  and 
out  through  what  seems  a  labyrinth  of  passages.  The 
next   morning   we   anchored   in   the   bay   of  Siminosaka. 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  119 

This  is  not  a  treaty  port,  so  we  were  not  allowed  to  go  on 
shore.     I  understand  it  is  a  place  of  about  fifty  thousand 
inhabitants,  but   as  we  were   anchored   fallv  a  mile  from 
la«d,  we  were  consequently  wholly  unable  to  examine  the 
city.     We   remained  but  about  two  hours,   and  steamed 
away  for  ]S"agasaki,  where  we  arrived  the  same  day.     The 
islands  of  this  inner  sea  through  which  we  passed  are  said 
to  be  three  thousand  in  number,  but  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that    islands   in   groups   like   these    are   never   accurately 
counted.     Every  body  speaks  of  the  "thousand  islands" 
of  the  St.  Lawrence,  though  they  are  known  to  number 
eighteen  hundred.     The  harbor  of  Nagasaki  is  a  beautiful 
sheet  of  water,  almost  surrounded  by  land,  and  sufficiently 
large  to  float  the  combined  navies  of  the  world.     After 
breakfast  we  went  ashore  in  a  sampan,  and,  adopting  the 
mode  of  conveyance  which  we  had   found  so  convenient 
elsewhere,  went  fourteen  miles  into  the  country,  enjoying 
our  last  ride  in  Japan  and  our  last  acquaintance  with  the 
faithful  coolies.     The  country  around  the  city  did  not  dif- 
fer from  other  parts  of  the  empire  which  we  had  visited. 
In  the  city  there  are  the  same   narrow  streets,  the  same 
bustling  activity,  and  the  same  ceaseless  curiosity  concern- 
ing the  sayings,  doings,  and  appearance  of  foreigners.    We 
wandered   through   many  bazars,  feasting  our  eyes  upon 
the  beautiful,  curious,  and  useful  articles  that  tempt  the 
stranger  and  deplete  his  pockets.     The  missionaries  have 
three  good  churches  here.     To  one  of  the  missionaries  we 
had  a  letter  of  introduction,  but,  by  reason  of  the  lack  of 
time,  were  compelled  to  forego  the  pleasure  of  presenting 
it.     I  have  been  giv'en  to  understand  that  their  work  is 
progressing  encouragingly.     The  little  chapels,  with  their 
neat  spires,  are  as  a  drop  of  water  in  the  desert  to  one 
who  has  been  wandering  among  the  temples  and  gods  of 
the  idolaters  for  weeks.     At  night,  on  shipboard,  we  heard 


120  WHAT  I  SAW, 

the  chapel  bell,  calling  by  its  sonorous  peals  the  Christians 
to  worship.  It  made  us  homesick.  Never  again  will  we 
become  impatient  when  compelled  to  listen  to  the  loud- 
mouthed tinklers  of  the  churches  at  home.  One  thought 
of  the  lone  little  chapel  at  Nagasaki  will  bring  peace  to 
our  nerves  and  make  us  devoutly  thankful  that  our  home 
is  in  a  land  where  Christianity  is  enjoyed  rather  than 
tolerated. 

Our  ship  stopped  but  one  day  at  Nagasaki,  and  we  bid 
a  regretful  farewell  to  Japan,  where  we  had  spent  many 
pleasant  days,  and  feasted  our  minds  upon  much  that  was 
curious  and  novel.  If  the  blessings  of  lone  travelers  will 
add  to  the  happiness  of  her  natives,  they  are  freely  ten- 
dered. We  found  the  Japanese  a  peaceful,  good-natured, 
accommodating,  and  faithful  people,  anxious  to  learn  the 
ways  of  those  more  advanced  in  the  scale  of  civilization, 
and  eager  to  adopt  all  customs  that  will  add  to  their  hap- 
piness and  material  progress. 

Previous  to  leaving  the  harbor  of  Nagasaki  we  accepted 
an  invitation  to  visit  a  Russian  man-of-war.  We  were 
highly  entertained,  and  found  much  to  interest  us  in  the 
management  of  the  crew.  Hurrying  back  to  our  vessel, 
we  sailed  at  10  A.  M.,  and  as  I  write  are  enjoying  as 
placid  and  comfortable  a  voyage  as  any  one  could  desire. 
We  expect  to  reach  Shanghai  but  one  day  out  of  our 
programme  time.  As  we  steamed  from  the  harbor  we 
passed  the  little  island  of  Dezima,  scarcely  an  acre  in  ex- 
tent, where  for  more  than  two  centuries  existed  the  only 
foreign  foothold  on  Japanese  soil.  It  was  during  that 
time  a  Dutch  trading  post.  In  1639,  when  the  Portuguese 
were  expelled  from  the  empire,  a  terrible  massacre  is  said 
to  have  occurred  at  this  place,  hundreds  of  the  hated  for- 
eigners being  compelled  to  leap  from  a  precipice  eighty 
feet  high. 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  121 

It  may  be  that  my  readers  have  become  weary  of  my 
long  continued  story  of  Japan  and  the  Japanese,  and  that 
I  owe  them  an  apology  for  the  time  and  space  which  in 
these  letters  have  been  devoted  to  the  subject.  My  only 
apology  is  that  in  Japan  are  found  more  prolific  subjects 
to  engage  the  attention  of  the  traveler  than  perhaps  in 
any  other  country  on  earth.  For  centuries  the  Japanese 
Empire  was  a  sealed  book  to  civilization.  While  commercial 
intercourse  developed  the  history,  resources,  customs,  etc., 
of  other  nations,  Japan,  wrapped  in  voluntary  and  com- 
plete seclusion,  remained  a  mystery  which  the  best  efforts 
of  the  most  progressive  nations  failed  to  solve.  The  first 
mention  we  find  of  Japan  in  history  is  when  ^Nlarco  Polo, 
the  noted  Venetian  traveler,  returned  from  a  residence  of 
twenty  years  in  China,  in  the  year  1295.  The  wonderful 
stories  he  related  of  Oriental  countries  were  so  surprising 
that  Europeans  viewed  them  with  incredulity,  and  the  ad- 
venturous Venetian  was  quoted  in  much  the  same  spirit 
as  was,  in  later  years,  the  renowned  Baron  Munchausen. 
In  short,  it  was  freely  asserted  by  contemporary  scientists 
that  M.  Polo  drew  largely  upon  his  imagination  for 
his  most  solemnly  asserted  facts.  The  veracity  of  the 
Venetian  traveler  is  remarkably  sustained  by  more  recent 
discoveries,  and  centuries  after  proved,  in  more  instances 
than  one,  the  correctness  of  his  claims.  Marco  Polo,  in 
the  record  of  his  Eastern  travels,  is  careful  to  say  that  he 
never  visited  Japan,  and  that  all  the  information  he  ob- 
tained of  its  existence  was  secured  from  the  Chinese.  It 
was  nearly  three  hundred  years  afterward  before  a  Euro- 
pean ever  set  foot  in  Japan,  and  then  the  discovery,  like 
many  others  of  greater  and  less  importance,  was  the  result 
of  accident.  Every  school-boy  has,  to  some  extent,  studied 
the  history  of  the  little  kingdom  of  Portugal,  now  rank- 
ing as  a  third-rate  nation,  and  from  its  unimportant  geo- 


122  WHAT  I  SAW, 

graphical  position  and  inability  to  cope  with  other  more 
progressive  nations,  scarcely  conceded  a  voice  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  world's  affairs.  Yet  to  this  nation  is  civ- 
ilization indebted  for  more  important  discoveries  than  to 
any  other.  Three  and  a  half  centuries  ago  Portugal  was  in 
the  zenith  of  her  glory.  Portuguese  ships  dotted  every 
known  ocean,  and  her  hardy  and  venturesome  sailors  were 
yearly  adding  valuable  chapters  and  volumes  to  the  history 
of  the  world.  Among  the  most  noted  of  the  Portuguese 
discoverers  was  Ferdinand  Mendez  Pinto.  Like  Marco 
Polo,  when  he  told  of  strange  things  that  had  befallen 
him  in  his  wanderings,  the  men  of  his  generation  refused 
to  believe  him,  but,  like  his  Venetian  predecessor,  he  re- 
lated many  things  that  afterward  proved  to  be  in  strict 
accord  with  fact.  Pinto  was  a  good  representative  of  the 
nation  as  it  existed  in  the  sixteenth  century.  As  I  have 
remarked,  Portugal  was  at  that  time  the  leading  maritime 
power.  In  less  than  two  centuries  she  had  traversed  the 
Atlantic,  discovered  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  crossed  the 
Indian  Ocean,  and  established  a  foothold  in  China.  It 
was  only  by  reason  of  the  jealousy  of  the  king,  not  un- 
mixed with  perfidy,  that  deprived  her  of  the  honor,  so 
arrogantly  borne  by  Spain,  of  discovering  America.  In 
the  year  1545,  the  vessel  of  Pinto,  driven  eastward  through 
unknown  seas  by  stress  of  weather,  entered  the  harbor  of 
Bungo,  on  the  island  of  Kiu-siu,  Japan.  His  reception, 
though  kind,  was  not  cordial,  but  history  tells  us  that 
during  a  somewhat  prolonged  stay  he  created  so  favorable 
an  impression  upon  the  Japanese  that  an  agreement  was 
made  by  which  a  Portuguese  ship  was  to  be  sent  annually 
to  the  island  for  the  purposes  of  trade.  The  basis  of 
Portuguese  operations  was  at  that  time  at  Goa,  in  the 
East  Indies,  where  they  had  built  up  a  powerful  and 
wealthy  colony.     In  those   days,  when  the  Catholic  was 


AND  HOW  ISA W  IT.  123 

the  only  Christian  religion,  the  zealous  religious  propa- 
gandists followed  closely  upon  the  heels  of  geographical 
explorers,  and  but  a  few  years  elapsed  before  the  Jesuits, 
under  the  lead  of  Francis  Xavier,  pushed  their  teachings 
into  Japan,  and  thousands  of  converts  were  made.  At  that 
time  the  utmost  liberty  of  conscience  was  allowed,  and  no 
less  than  thirty-five  distinct  religions  existed  and  flourished 
with  more  or  less  luxuriance.  So  long  as  the  missions  re- 
mained wholly  under  the  control  of  the  Jesuits  their  progress 
was  rapid,  and  gave  encouragement  of  glorious  results.  In 
a  few  years,  however,  the  Dominicans,  Carthusians,  Fran- 
ciscans, and  other  factions  of  the  Church  obtained  a  foot- 
hold, and  from  that  time  religious  peace  was  at  an  end. 
The  converts  were  greeted  w^ith  the  spectacle  of  bitter 
quarrels  among  their  instructors,  and  they  naturally  lost 
confidence  in  a  religion  whose  professors,  while  teaching 
the  theory  of  peace  and  good  will,  consistently  practiced 
the  opposite.  The  climax  was  finally  reached  when  infor- 
mation came  to  the  emperor  that  the  missionaries,  in  con- 
junction with  their  converts,  were  plotting  the  overthrow 
of  his  power.  An  edict  was  at  once  issued  banishing  from 
the  empire  the  whole  race  of  the  Portuguese.  The  same 
proclamation  forbade,  under  the  penalty  of  death,  any  Jap- 
anese vessel  or  native  of  Japan  to  depart  from  the  country. 
It  directed  that  any  Japanese  returning  home  from  a  foreign 
country  should  be  put  to  death ;  that  any  person  propagating 
Christian  doctrines,  or  even  bearing  the  title  of  Christian, 
should  suffer ;  that  no  native  should  purchase  any  thing 
from  a  foreigner ;  and  a  reward  was  offered  for  the  discov- 
ery of  every  priest  as  well  as  of  every  native  Christian. 
Thus  ended  the  foreign  trade  with  Japan  and  the  tolera- 
tion of  the  Christian  religion  in  the  empire.  This  edict 
was  followed  by  a  cruel  and  relentless  persecution  of  the 
native  converts  to   Christianity,  and  history  contains  no 


124  WHAT  I  SAW, 

more  touching  chapter  than  the  story  of  the  tortures  which 
heroic  men,  women,  and  children  suffered  because  of  their 
refusal  to  recant  and  abjure  their  religion. 

Soon  after  the  discovery  of  America,  the  coast  of 
Africa,  and  the  islands  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  the  Pope, 
assuming  the  powers  of  a  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual 
dictator,  allayed  the  feeling  of  jealousy  rising  between  the 
catholic  nations  of  Spain  and  Portugal  by  dividing  be- 
tween them  all  of  the  western  and  about  half  of  the  east- 
ern hemisphere.  These  nations,  as  a  consequence,  were 
disposed  to  monopolize  the  trade  with  newly  discovered 
countries.  The  Dutch  and  English,  who  had  no  respect 
for  the  Pope's  geography  and  as  little  faith  in  his  religion, 
denied  his  title  to  the  ownership  of  the  whole  earth,  and 
profanely  likened  him  to  Satan  when  he  took  our  Lord 
up  into  the  mountain  and  offered,  for  a  consideration,  to 
transfer  to  him  whole  kingdoms,  of  which  he  did  n't  own 
a  foot.  The  consequence  was  a  long  and  bloody  feud  be- 
tween the  "lying  Papists"  and  the  "accursed  heretics." 
It  was  during  this  jDerlod  of  animosity,  and  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  in  England,  that  the  Dutch 
made  their  way  to  Japan,  where  they  met  with  any  thing 
but  a  cordial  reception  from  the  Portuguese,  who  had  not 
yet  suffered  expulsion  and  were  established  at  Nagasaki. 
The  Hollanders  established  a  trading  post  at  Firando. 
The  rivalry  between  the  two  establishments  was  naturally 
very  great,  and  each  sought  to  injure  the  other  as  much 
as  possible  with  the  Japanese  authorities. 

At  length,  in  1639,  the  Portuguese  were  finally  ex- 
pelled, as  I  have  previously  stated,  and  the  Dutch  were 
ordered  to  remove  their  trading  post  from  Firando  to 
Dezima,  a  little  island  in  the  harbor  of  Nagasaki,  which 
had  formerly  been  occupied  by  the  Portuguese.  I  have 
been  thus  particular  in  detailing  these  facts  because   on 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  125 

this  little  island,  scarcely  six  hundred  feet  long  and  one- 
third  as  broad,  for  more  than  two  hundred  years,  existed 
the  only  trading  point  of  foreigners  in  Japan.  The  Dutch, 
as  a  condition  of  their  retaining  the  great  advantages  of 
trade,  submitted  to  the  most  degrading  humiliations. 
During  the  two  hundred  years  succeeding,  but  little  is 
known  of  the  Japanese  people.  Some  information,  incom- 
plete, often  contradictory,  and,  as  subsequently  obtained 
knowledge  shows,  wholly  unreliable,  was  given  to  the 
world  through  these  Dutch  traders.  In  the  meantime, 
different  nations,  the  Russian,  French,  English,  and  others, 
sought  to  establish  commercial  relations  with  the  Japa- 
nese, but  always  without  success.  Finally,  in  1852,  the 
United  States  government  dispatched  a  squadron,  under 
command  of  Commodore  Perry,  to  Japan,  with  instruc- 
tions to  secure  a  treaty,  if  possible.  The  expedition,  after 
months  of  tedious  negotiations,  was  entirely  successful. 
A  treaty  was  signed  which  opened  certain  ports  to  Ameri- 
can vessels,  and  the  mystery  which  had  so  long  surrounded 
the  empire  of  Japan  began  to  fade  away.  This  treaty 
was  followed  by  similar  concessions  to  other  nations,  until 
now  the  principal  ports  of  the  Mikado's  dominions  are 
free  to  the  commerce  of  all  nations.  Japan,  in  the  but 
little  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  that  has  elapsed, 
has  advanced  with  rapid  strides  in  her  material  progress. 
Railroads  and  telegraph  have  been  introduced.  Steamers, 
manned  by  Japanese  seamen  and  commanded  by  Japanese 
officers,  are  an  ordinary  mode  of  conveyance,  and  the  peo- 
ple, with  surprising  alacrity,  are  beginning  to  conform  to 
the  customs  of  civilization. 

In  seeking  the  data  upon  which  to  base  this  brief 
sketch  of  Japanese  history,  I  have  found  much  that  is 
contradictory  and   unreliable,  and   the   same  difficulty  is 


V2Q  WHAT  I  SAW, 

encountered   in   endeavoring   to   trace   the   origin    of  the 
people,  their  religion,  system  of  government,  etc. 

There  have  been  several  Dutch  writers  upon  Japan, 
prominent  among  whom  were  Ksempfer  and  Siebold,  each 
of  whom  claim  to  have  enjoyed  certain  valuable  privileges 
which  enabled  them  to  study  the  characteristics  of  the 
people.  Information  obtained  since  the  opening  of  the 
country  leads  to  the  conclusion,  not  admitting  of  a  doubt, 
that  they  either  knew  little  of  the  subjects  which  they 
essayed  to  discuss,  or  purposely  perverted  the  truth.  One 
would  be  led  to  the  conclusion  from  perusing  their  inter- 
esting stories  that  the  Japanese  were  almost  barbarous,  and 
that  governmental  power  was  so  displayed  that  the  slight- 
est oifense,  the  most  venial  transgression  of  an  unwritten 
law,  was  punishable  with  death.  Contact  with  the  people 
has  shown  that  the  Japanese  are  no  such  monsters;  that 
they  are  of  a  jDcaceable,  kindly,  forgiving  disposition,  and 
that  the  Mikado,  so  far  from  being  a  counterpart  of  the 
king  of  Ashantee  in  vindictive  cruelty,  is  really  progres- 
sively inclined,  anxious  to  learn  the  ways  of  nations  more 
advanced,  and  a  studious  searcher  for  the  system  of  gov- 
ernment which  will  most  add  to  the  happiness  and  pros- 
perity of  his  people.  While  in  Japan  I  learned  that  the 
Mikado  is  contemplating  the  introduction  of  a  constitu- 
tional form  of  government,  and  adopting  other  measures 
of  reform. 

The  history  of  the  religion  of  the  Japanese  is,  as  I 
have  said,  a  subject  in  which  research  is  fraught  with 
great  difficulty.  The  original  religion  of  Japan  is  called 
"  Sin-syu,"  a  liberal  translation  of  which  would  be  sun- 
worshipers,  although  they  did  not  worship  the  sun  di- 
rectly, but  through  the  mediation  of  a  goddess,  "  Tensio- 
dai-zin,"  who  is  deemed  the  patron   divinity  of  Japan. 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  127 

The  religion  has  a  number  of  what  might  be  called  sub- 
deities,  or  "  Kami,"  of  whom  the  greater  part  are  can- 
onized or  deified  men.  To  these  the  prayers  to  the  god- 
dess are  made,  much  as  the  Romish  Church  worships  God 
through  the  intercession  of  saints.  The  Mikado,  or  em- 
peror, is  supposed  to  be  a  lineal  descendant  o.f  the  god- 
dess named.  They  have  no  idols,  in  the  strict  sense  of 
the  word,  the  statues  of  "  Kami "  not  being  objects  of 
worship.  The  "Sin-syu,"  or  "Siutoo"  creed  is  very  crude, 
and  it  is  not  easy  to  say  just  what  it  was  or  is.  Its  lead- 
ing features  are  some  vague  notions  of  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  of  a  future  state  of  existence  of  rewards  and 
punishment,  a  paradise  and  a  hell.  The  "  Kaminusi  "  are 
the  regular  clergy  of  the  Sintoo  religion,  but  European 
writers  mention  two  institutions,  or  religious  orders,  per- 
haps, composed  entirely  of  the  blind.  At  present  there  is 
undoubtedly  much  of  the  idolatry  of  Buddhism  introduced 
into  the  Sintoo  faith,  and  the  latter  is  rapidly  dying  out. 
Buddhism,  although  not  the  established  religion,  is  the 
faith  of  much  the  larger  portion  of  the  people,  and  might 
in  fact,  be  said  to  be  the  universal  doctrine,  so  rare  are 
the  exceptions.  It  was  introduced  into  Japan  in  the  sixth 
century  of  our  era,  and  has  gradually  superseded  the  Sin- 
too. Christianity  is  viewed  with  suspicion  by  all,  and  the 
progress  of  the  work  is  not  as  encouraging  as  the  Chris- 
tian people  would  wish  to  see  it.  It  is  no  longer,  how- 
ever, prohibited,  and  the  emperor  permits,  if  he  does  not 
encourage,  new  systems  of  religion  as  graciously  as  he 
does  other  innovations. 

The  Japanese  are  an  exceedingly  industrious  and  in- 
genious people,  and  in  the  manufacture  of  certain  articles 
are  scarcely  equaled  by  any  nation.  They  work  well  in 
copper,  iron,  gold,  and  silver,  and,  indeed,  in  all  the  metals 
they  possess.      Of  course,  their  modes  of  operation   are 


128  WHAT  I  SAW, 

crude  and  primitive,  but  the  results  are  astonishing.  Their 
imitative  faculties,  which  are  a  peculiarity  of  the  people, 
have  led  them  into  the  adoption  of  improvements  as  they 
come  within  the  scope  of  their  observation.  The  supply 
of  iron  in  the  country  is  not  large,  but  before  the  opening 
of  the  empire  to  trade,  they  put  to  the  most  serviceable  use 
that  which  could  be  obtained.  Copper  is  very  abundant, 
and  from  the  earliest  historical  period  they  have  under- 
stood correctly  the  mode  of  treating  the  ore  and  preparing 
the  metal  for  market.  During  the  more  than  two  centuries 
of  Japanese  isolation,  when  the  only  point  of  trade  was 
with  the  small  Dutch  post  at  Nagasaki,  this  metal  was  the 
principal  article  of  export.  The  extent  of  the  gold  jjro- 
duction  is  very  limited,  but,  jierhajjs,  as  the  facilities  for 
obtaining  the  ore  and  treating  it  are  increased,  it  will  be 
largely  enhanced.  They  understand  also  the  combinations 
of  metals  which  produce  alloys  of  beauty  and  usefulness. 
Brass  is  as  common  with  them  almost  as  with  us,  and  they 
have  another  alloy  called  "sowas,"  a  combination  of  gold 
and  copper,  of  great  beauty.  Their  sword  blades  are  finely 
finished  and  thoroughly  tempered,  thus  showing  that  they 
have  long  been  acquainted  with  the  process  of  manufac- 
turing steel.  Clocks  and  watches  are  made  by  native 
workmen,  but  the  knowledge  is  of  a  comparatively  recent 
date,  as  it  was  obtained  from  the  Europeans.  This  is 
equally  true  of  their  astronomical  instruments,  though  they 
secured  their  knowledge  of  the  use  and  manufacture  of 
the  telescope  in  their  intercourse  with  Europeans  hundreds 
of  years  ago,  before  the  expulsion  of  the  Portuguese. 
They  are  expert  in  carving  metal,  and  cast  metallic  statues, 
used  mostly  as  gods  to  embellish  the  temples.  No  people 
in  the  world  excel  them  in  wood  work.  The  manufacture 
of  glass  is  partially  understood,  though  they  seem  to  en- 
counter unusual  difficulty  in  producing  window  glass.    But 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  129 

little  of  it  is  used,  and  seemingly  none  outside  of  the 
cities.  Oiled  paper  is  made  to  do  service  as  a  material 
which  will  admit  the  light,  while  excluding  the  air.  In 
the  manufacture  of  paper  Japan  can  almost  be  said  to 
"excel  the  world."  This  latter  expression  is,  of  course, 
an  exaggeration,  but  one  to  which  a  person  is  tempted 
after  seeing  and  handling  the  finer  specimens  of  Japanese 
production,  as  soft  and  pliable  almost  as  silk.  The  mate- 
rial of  which  it  is  made  is  the  bark  of  the  mulberry  tree, 
and  the  process  is  as  crude  as  the  most  primitive  imagina- 
tion could  suggest.  So  abundant  is  the  production,  that 
paper  is  used  for  innumerable  purposes,  largely  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  cotton  fabrics,  in  the  manufacture  of  which 
they  have  little  skill.  Woolens  are  wholly  imported,  as 
no  wool  is  grown  in  the  empire,  or,  at  least,  so  little  that 
no  effort  is  made  to  utilize  it.  In  the  preparation  and 
weaving  of  silk  the  Japanese  are  probably  unsurpassed 
and  unsurpassable.  It  was  not  our  pleasure  to  witness  the 
operation  of  weaving,  but  the  products  of  the  looms  are 
abundant,  and  of  a  character  for  compactness  and  elegance, 
both  of  design  and  finish,  that  I  have  never  seen  equaled. 
Leather  is  produced  to  some  extent,  but  the  article  is  not 
used  as  we  apply  it.  The  shoes  and  slippers  are  usually 
made  of  plaited  straw.  These  last  only  a  little  while,  but 
are  cheap  and  readily  replaced.  In  wet  weather  they 
wear  under  these  shoes  a  wooden  clog  or  sole,  which  is 
attached  to  the  foot  by  means  of  straw  ties.  In  the  cities, 
however,  the  natives,  as  I  have  frequently  remarked,  are 
rapidly  conforming  to  the  European  and  American  cus- 
toms, and  it  is  not  an  uncommon  sight  in  the  streets  of 
Hlogo  or  Yokohama  to  see  a  pair  of  Japanese  feet  encased 
in  neat-fitting  calf-skin  boots. 

Japan  is  very  mountainous,  as  I  have  already  stated, 
but  with   the   exception  of  that   portion   of  the   ground 

9 


130  WHAT  I  SAW, 

occupied  by  the  roads,  and  by  the  woods  left  to  supply 
timber  and  charcoal,  nearly  every  square  foot,  to  the  very 
tops  of  the  mountains,  is  cultivated.  Generally,  their  soil 
is  rather  poor;  but  by  means  of  the  care  and  labor  which 
they  bestow  upon  it,  in  irrigation,  and  by  the  application 
of  carefully  selected  manures,  it  is  made  surprisingly 
productive.  Their  chief  grain  is  rice,  of  which  it  is 
claimed  the  Japanese  produce  the  best  in  the  world.  Next 
in  importance  is  tea,  but  this  plant  is  not,  as  is  generally 
supposed,  indigenous  to  Japan.  It  was  introduced  from 
China  about  the  ninth  century.  Immense  quantities  of  it 
are  produced,  for  its  use  among  the  natives  is  universal, 
and  an  incredible  amount  is  each  year  exported.  The 
plantations  are  situated  as  far  as  they  conveniently  can  be 
from  all  other  crops,  and  from  human  habitations,  lest  the 
delicacy  of  the  tea  be  impaired  by  smoke  or  other  im- 
purity. They  manure  the  soil  with  anchovies  and  an  oil 
or  juice  expressed  from  mustard  seed.  This  undoubtedly 
gives  to  the  soil  great  strength. 

In  no  department  have  the  Japanese  shown  greater 
improvement,  resulting  from  the  peculiar  adaptibility  of 
which  I  have  spoken,  than  in  navigation.  Previous  to  the 
expulsion  of  the  Europeans,  they  made  voyages  in  ves- 
sels of  their  own  construction  to  China,  Java,  and  other 
countries,  but  under  the  decree  of  1639  the  vessels  were 
prohibited  from  going  beyond  Japanese  waters.  During 
the  past  quarter  of  a  century,  since  the  empire  has  been 
open  to  the  trade  of  the  world,  they  have  acquired  a  sur- 
prisingly thorough  knowledge  of  navigation,  the  applica- 
tion of  steam,  etc.,  and  many  vessels  are  manned  wholly 
by  Japanese  and  commanded  by  native  officers. 

The  internal  trade,  both  by  land  and  water,  is  large, 
resulting  from  the  variety  of  products  afforded  by  the  di- 
versity of  climate  and  by  the  requirements  of  the  immense 


AND  HOW  1  SAW  IT.  131 

population.  In  many  places  town  joins  on  to  town  and 
village  to  village  for  miles,  so  that  the  road  looks  like  a 
continuous  street.  The  country  is  indeed  populous  beyond 
expression,  and  one  would  scarcely  think  it  possible  that, 
being  no  greater  than  it  is,  it  should  nevertheless  main- 
tain and  support  such  a  vast  number  of  inhabitants.  The 
highways  are  almost  one  continued  line  of  villages  and 
boroughs.  You  scarce  come  out  of  one  before  you  enter 
another;  and  you  may  travel  many  miles,  as  it  were,  in 
one  street,  without  knowing  it  to  be  composed  of  many 
villages.  As  for  the  facilities  for  carrying  on  this  vast 
internal  trade  of  which  I  have  spoken,  I  may  mention,  as 
one  peculiar  branch  of  the  system,  the  mails.  The  mail  trains 
are  not  just  such  as  carry  swift  communication  between 
points  in  the  States.  Here  the  carriers  are  men,  and  they 
go  wholly  on  foot,  but  they  are  very  expeditious.  Every 
carrier  is  accompanied  by  a  partner,  to  take  his  place  in 
case  of  an  accident.  The  men  run  at  their  utmost  speed, 
and  as  they  approach  the  end  of  their  stage  find  the  relay 
waiting,  to  whom,  as  soon  as  they  are  near  enough,  they 
toss  the  package  of  letters,  when  the  new  runners  set  off 
before  the  first  have  stopped.  Nothing  must  be  interposed 
to  delay  them  a  moment  on  the  road.  The  highest  prince 
of  the  empire  must  make  way  for  the  postman.  When 
necessary  and  practicable  the  Japanese  make  good  bridges, 
frequently  of  stone,  but  oftener  of  wood.  On  the  roads, 
in  all  parts  of  the  empire  which  are  visited,  inns,  tea 
shops,  and  other  resting  places  occur  at  intervals,  and  the 
distances  are  regularly  marked. 

I  have  just  said  that  the  Japanese  possess  some  knowl- 
edge of  the  principles  of  civil  engineering.  They  know 
something,  and  are  daily  learning  more,  of  mathematics, 
mechanics,  and  trigonometry.  They  have  constructed 
good  maps  of  the  country ;  they  have  measured  the  height 


132  WHAT  I  SAW, 

of  some  of  their  mountains  by  the  barometer,  and  they 
have  made  some  very  good  canals. 

I  would  like  to  speak  further  of  this  wonderful  people, 
their  system  of  education,  etc.,  but  the  great  space  I  have 
already  devoted  to  it  admonishes  me  that  there  may  per- 
haps be  a  limit  to  the  patience  of  the  reader,  who  mayha]) 
has  long  since  become  wearied  with  my  prolix  details  of 
Japan  and  the  Japanese.  Truly,  they  are  a  wonderful 
people. 

As  I  write  (November  2d)  the  lowlands  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Yang-tse-kiang  appear  like  a  black,  low-lying  cloud, 
our  first  view  of  China.  To-morrow  we  will  land,  and 
for  the  next  two  weeks  seek  novelties  in  the  "  Celestial 
Kingdom." 


AND  HO  W  1  SA  W  IT.  133 


XII. 


China  and  the  Chinese — Arrival  at  Shanghai— Tour  op  the 
City— A  Badly  Disgusted  Tourist— He  Expresses  a  Decided 
Opinion  of  the  Celestials — The  Filthiest  Creatures  on  Earth. 

Shanghai,  China,  Novejiiber  6,  i88i. 

If  ever  there  was  a  traveler  completely  disgusted,  sick, 
and  nauseated,  mentally  and  physically,  I  am  that  indi- 
vidual. We  arrived  at  this  port  on  the  morning  of  the 
3d,  and  have  devoted  our  time  wholly  to  a  pretty  thorough 
exploration  of  that  section  of  China  which  lies  within  our 
reach  at  this  point.  The  approach  to  China  is  by  no 
means  as  picturesque  as  the  coast  of  Japan.  We  crossed 
the  great  estuary  of  the  Yang-tse-Kiang  and  arrived  at 
Woosung,  the  outer  port  of  Shanghai,  some  fourteen  miles 
below  the  latter  city.  The  shore  is  low,  flat,  and  marshy, 
and  continues  throughout  the  distance  to  the  city.  In 
passing  up  the  river  to  Shanghai  the  eye  is  bewildered  by 
the  panoramic  view  of  ships  of  all  nations  which  throng 
the  stream. 

Our  first  impression  of  Shanghai,  obtained  from  the 
European  concession,  was  very  favorable.  This  part  of 
the  city  differs  but  little  from  European  or  American 
towns.  Along  the  quay  are  located  immense  warehouses, 
of  modern  style,  and  the  residences,  many  of  them,  truly 
elegant.  AYe  are  located  at  the  Astor  House,  kept  by  an 
American,  where  we  obtain  excellent  accommodations, 
comparing  favorably  with  those  in  New  York,  for  five 
dollars  per  day  for  two  of  us.     The  Astor  I  can  heartily 


134  WHAT  I  SAW, 

commend  to  tourists,  particularly  Americans.  After  par- 
taking of  dinner  a  part  of  the  afternoon  was  devoted  to  a 
stroll  through  the  city.  We  found  it  quite  decently  clean, 
with  stores,  bazars,  shops,  etc.,  much  as  we  have  them  at 
home.  This,  it  must  be  remembered,  is  the  foreign  con- 
cession. The  contrast  when  one  ventures  into  the  native 
city  is  startlingly  great.  In  company  with  Captain  Swain, 
a  brother  Yankee,  we,  on  the  day  following  our  arrival, 
started  to  explore  the  Chinese  city.  And  let  me  here  re- 
mark that  nothing  except  the  duty  we  owe  ourselves  as 
sight-seers  induced  us  to  continue  our  walk  beyond  the 
first  few  steps  inside  the  wall.  The  streets  are  from  three 
to  six  feet  wide,  and  here  is  packed  a  mass  of  seething, 
stinking  humanity  such  as  I  earnestly  hope  can  not  be 
found  elsewhere  on  earth.  The  city  is  surrounded  by  a 
wall,  thirty  or  thirty-five  feet  high  and  twelve  or  fifteen 
feet  thick,  composed  of  large  blue  bricks,  which  resemble 
somewhat  the  extra-hard  burned  brick  at  home.  At  reg- 
ular distances  the  top  of  this  wall  is  broken  into  embra- 
sures, giving  it  the  appearance  of  a  fortification,  though 
there  were  no  indications  of  armament.  We  were  at  a 
loss  to  divine  the  real  purpose  of  this  wall,  as  the  appear- 
ance and  above  all  the  Indelicate  aroma  which  exudes  from 
those  w'ithin  w^ould  be  sufficient  to  deter  even  the  most 
venturesome  enemy  from  entering  the  town.  Our  guide 
asked  two  dollars  for  his  services,  but  we  readily  closed  a 
bargain  with  him  for  one-tenth  that  amount,  and  started 
off  under  his  guidance.  "  Now,  show  us  your  gods !" 
said  Captain  Swain,  but  the  Mongolian  convoy  was  desir- 
ous of  further  information  that  would  enable  him  to  act 
intelligently.  He  wanted  to  know,  as  we  gathered  from 
his  "  pigeon  English,"  what  was  our  moral  standing.  If 
we  were  good  people,  he  would  show  us  the  good  gods, 
but  If  of  an  inferior  class,  the  gods,  with  a  view  of  which 


AND  now  I  SAW  IT. 


r35 


r^b 


we  were  to  be  honored,  must  correspond.  Finally  the 
god  question  having  been  satisfactorily  adjusted,  we  sallied 
forth  on  our  journey.  He  took  us  through  innumerable 
temples,  whose  great  antiquity  is  the  only 
thing  to  commend  them.  A  more  miserably 
dilapidated  collection  of  tumble-down  struc- 
tures can  not  be  found 
anywhere  outside  of 
China.  Compared  with 
the  temples  of  Japan 
they  are  as  a  neglected 
pig-stye  to  a  palace. 
We  supplied  ourselves 
with  a  god,  partly  as  a 
curiosity,  and  partially 
with  the  hope  that  its 
guaranteed  virtues 
would  serve  as  a  protec- 
tion to  us  in  the  Chinese 
cities  where  preserva- 
tion from  many  disa- 
greeable experiences  is 
imperatively  demanded. 
Our  god  is  about  six 
inches  high,  as  hideously  homely  a  formation  perhaps  as 
the  artistic  taste  of  the  Chinese  manufacturer  was  able  to 
compass.  We  have  not  yet  learned  whether  it  is  a  good 
or  a  bad  god,  but  it  is  a  good  enough  god  for  us,  and  we 
prize  it  very  highly. 

We  wound  about  through  the  labyrinthian  maze  of 
streets,  which  are  so  crooked  that  I  have  much  doubt 
whether  they  have  an  end.  I  wish  I  was  possessed  for 
the  time  being  of  a  facile  descriptive  pen,  that  I  might  do 
the   extreme   filthiness   of  these    Chinese   streets   at   least 


Chinese  Wife. 


136  WHAT  I  SAW, 

comparative  justice.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  Chinese 
cities  are  naturally  the  breeding  places  of  the  plagues  and 
pestilences  that  periodically  sweep  over  the  country. 
Among  other  places  to  which  we  were  conducted  by  our 
guide  was  the  Chinese  prison.  They  have  a  system  of  in- 
flicting punishment  which  should  prove  eifective  in  incul- 
cating a  respect  for  the  law,  or  if  not  respect,  at  least  a 
wholesome  dread.  Persons  convicted  of  larceny  have  a 
board  two  feet  square  fitted  to  their  necks,  so  that  the 
head  extends  above,  and  the  prisoner  can  not  raise  his 
hands  to  feed  himself.  Another  whom  we  saw  was  under- 
going punishment  for  murder.  He  is  ornamented  with  a 
similar  necklace,  but  in  addition  is  confined  in  a  wooden 
cage,  where  he  is  compelled  to  stand  up,  because  if  he  at- 
tempts to  sit  down  the  board  around  his  neck  will  choke 
him.  There  he  must  stand  until  death  relieves  him,  for 
no  one  is  allowed  to  feed  him.  We  also  visited  a  women's 
prison,  where  many  were  awaiting  sentence.  If  con- 
demned to  labor  they  will  be  promjjtly  put  to  the  severest 
and  most  menial  work,  and  if  sentenced  to  be  beheaded 
the  application  of  the  penalty  will  be  equally  prompt  and 
unceremonious,  the  operation  of  decapitation  being  per- 
formed right  on  the  spot.  In  China  "  the  law's  delays  " 
do  not  intervene  to  protect  criminals.  The  sentence  is 
executed  first,  and  the  appeals  for  delay  probably  listened 
to  afterward. 

Our  guide  is  not  a  fool,  even  if  his  appearance  might 
indicate  it.  It  seems  to  be  the  custom  for  dealers  to  pay 
these  cicerones  a  commission  on  any  sales  which  may  be 
made  to  those  unsophisticated  foreigners  whom  they  have 
in  charge.  The  action  of  our  guide  in  pertinaciously 
marching  us  through  bazars,  until  we  learned  of  this  cus- 
tom, was  more  mysterious  to  us  than  it  was  profitable 
to  him. 


CHIHESE  PAGODA. 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  137 

The  Chinese  beggars,  in  common  with  every  thing  else 
we  saw,  were  of  the  dirtiest  and  most  disgusting.  The 
minutely  subdivided  coin  of  this  blasted  country  was  doubt- 
less intended  as  an  accommodation  to  those  who  are  seem- 
ingly, by  the  pertinacity  of  the  wretches,  compelled  to 
give  something,  yet  do  not  care  to  impoverish  themselves. 
We  provided  ourselves  with  "  half  cash,"  twenty  of  which 
equal  our  cent  in  value,  and  these  we  distributed  with  the 
lofty  air  of  kings,  our  contributions  during  the  day  reach- 
ing the  sum  of  nearly  a  quarter.  Oh,  I  tell  you  it  is 
glorious  to  be  so  generous  when  generosity  is  so  cheap. 
These  beggars  were  sadly  dilapidated  specimens  of  hu- 
manity, every  affliction  known  in  the  catalogue  of  human 
ills  being  apparently  represented  with  generous  profusion. 
They  were  a  mass  of  sores  from  head  to  foot — a  hideous 
picture  of  perambulating  putridity  which  I  hope  is  not 
common  in  China.  If  we  find  it  is,  it  will  require  per- 
haps more  strength  of  determination  than  I  have  ever  yet 
accumulated  to  carry  me  through.  Good  reader,  do  n't  do 
me  the  injustice  to  conclude  that  we  simply  encountered 
one  gang  of  these  beggars,  and  hastily  formed  an  opinion 
of  the  whole  therefrom.  No,  indeed  !  The  city  of  Shang- 
hai swarms  with  them,  the  filthiness  of  each  succeeding 
gathering  exceeding  that  of  its  j^redecessor.  The  old 
army  comparison,  "  thicker  than  sutlers  in  H — alifax " 
would  scarcely  do  justice  to  an  estimate  of  their  numbers. 
Finally,  we  became  wearied,  and  begged  our  guide  to  take 
us  out.  But  he  seemed  anxious  that  we  should  view  the 
"  devil  god."  We  consented,  and  were  shown  a  wooden 
image,  about  as  large  as  ten  men,  and  more  than  propor- 
tionately ugly,  with  a  great  red  tongue  lolling  out,  and  in 
front  of  it  a  poor  idolatrous  female  pouring  out  her  sor- 
rows and  begging  that  the  wrath  of  the  evil  spirit  might 
be  appeased.     Now,  this  appealed  directly  to  my  generos- 


138  WHAT  I  SAW, 

ity,  and  I  placated  that  devil  by  tne  contribution  of 
one-half  "  cash,"  or  the  one-half  of  one-tenth  of  one  cent. 
It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  remind  the  reader  that  the 
exorcising  of  devils  in  America  is  not  so  cheap. 

Having  seen  much  more  than  we  cared  to  look  at,  and 
established  our  reputations  for  generosity  on  a  grand  scale, 
we  peremptorily  ordered  our  guide  to  return  us  to  the 
gate,  and  right  glad  were  we  for  the  sniflp  of  fresh  air  that 
can  be  obtained  only  outside  the  walls  of  Shanghai. 
When  we  arrived  at  our  hotel,  we  acted  upon  the  land- 
lord's suggestion,  and  thoroughly  fumigated  our  bodies. 
Having  cleansed  our  outer  persons,  we  irrigated  the  inner 
foulness  which  had  accumulated  by  a  copious  draft  of 
"OldOtard." 

"When  we  returned  to  the  "Concession"  we  found  the 
races  in  progress  and  all  business  suspended.  There  is 
found  between  the  native  city  and  the  Concession  a  start- 
ling change  of  values,  which  proved  disastrous  to  our 
vaunted  generosity.  They  charged  five  dollars  for  admit- 
tance to  the  races — a  princely  sum,  sufficient  to  enrich  the 
whole  native  city  of  Shanghai,  but  not  enough  to  cleanse 
it,  by  any  means. 

On  Saturday  we  made  a  general  tour  of  the  wharves 
and  "go-downs"  (warehouses)  of  the  Concession,  and 
found  them  nearly  equal  to  those  of  Xew  York  or  Liver- 
pool. The  amount  of  commercial  business  transacted  here 
is  incredible. 

In  the  matter  of  conveyances,  we  have,  first,  the  sedan 
chair,  a  cozy  kind  of  a  box,  nicely  cushioned,  and  borne, 
by  means  of  poles  extending  backward  and  forward,  upon 
the  shoulders  of  coolies.  These  chairs  are,  in  the  native 
city,  the  exclusive  conveniences  of  the  mandarins  and 
other  big-wigs.  Next  is  the  one-wheeled  barrow,  as  I 
call  it,  a  box  in  which  the  passenger  is  seated,  with  one 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  139 

foot  on  either  side  of  the  wheel.  Such  a  mode  of  convey- 
ance would  not  be  thought  very  dignified  in  Bucyrus,  but 
we  did  not  bring  our  dignity  with  us  to  China.  We  have 
also  the  "jinrikisha,"  brought  from  Japan,  but  we  miss 
the  faithful  little  Jap  attendants,  who,  when  compared  with 
the  Chinese  coolies,  are  princes  of  cleanliness  and  conse- 
quent godliness.  Next  is  the  Chinese  low-wheeled  car- 
riages, drawn  by  the  little  Chinese  ponies.  These  animals 
weigh  seven  to  nine  hundred  pounds,  and  move  quite 
rapidly,  and  with  some  degree  of  comfort.  These  are,  of 
course,  confined  to  the  Concession.  A  wheeled  vehicle  in 
the  native  city  would  probably  cause  an  insurrection. 

There  is  no  drainage  in  Shanghai,  and  at  early  bed- 
time the  scavengers  are  set  to  work,  and  for  hours  fill  the 
air  with  such  a  nauseating  aroma  as  can  not  be  found  out- 
side of  China, 

A  short  excursion  into  the  country  gave  us  a  brief 
insight  into  the  system  of  agriculture,  of  Avhich,  however, 
I  will  speak  again,  as  our  opportunities  for  observations  be- 
come more  extended.  They  use  for  farm  work  a  species  of 
buffalo,  a  mouse-colored  animal  of  apparently  amphibious 
habits.  Their  skin  resembles  in  appearance  that  of  the 
rhinoceros,  but,  notwithstanding  its  toughness,  they  suffer 
greatly  from  flies  and  other  insects,  which  fact  probably 
accounts  for  their  fondness  for  burying  themselves  in  the 
water. 

All  historians  agree  that  a  lack  of  respect  for  the  dead 
is  a  distinguishing  feature  of  barbarians.  In  China,  the 
deceased  are  shown  less  respect  than  dead  dogs.  One 
afternoon  since  our  arrival  in  Shanghai,  we  drove  to  the 
depositories  of  the  dead,  outside  the  city  a  distance  of 
some  seven  miles.  The  road  is  a  good  one,  lined  on  either 
side  by  the  fine  bungalows,  or  residences,  of  the  manda- 


140  WHAT  I  SAW, 

rins,  or  Chinese  nobles.  These  live  in  princely  style,  yet 
all  along  the  roadside  we  saw  innumerable  coffins,  made 
of  three-inch  plank,  and  each  containing  a  hideous,  grin- 
ning corpse.  I  find  that  in  this  part  of  China  the  dead 
are  not  always  buried,  but  are  left  thus  exjiosed,  the  heavy 
planking  of  the  coffins  usually  retaining  all  the  smell,  but 
in  many  cases  they  were  overpoweringly  oifensive.  A  live 
Chinaman  stinks  bad  enough,  but  the  most  vivid  imagina- 
tion can  not  comprehend  the  aroma  of  a  dead  one.  The 
number  we  saw  thus  exposed  was  almost  beyond  computa- 
tion, and  in  some  instances  only  a  piece  of  matting  was 
carelessly  thrown  over  the  coffin.  Every  Chinaman  who 
can  affiard  it  has  his  coffin  prepared  in  advance  of  death. 
We  saw  but  one  funeral,  in  which  the  corpse  was  carried 
on  the  shoulders  of  attendants  to  be  deposited  in  this  Gol- 
gotha, with  less  respect  than  in  the  States  we  would  handle 
a  dead  dog. 

A  Chinaman  who  falls  by  the  wayside  and  is  about  to 
die  is  not  looked  after,  and  receives  not  so  much  as  a 
glance  of  interest  from  the  passer-by.  It  is  considered  a 
calamity  for  a  stranger  to  die  on  your  premises.  We  saw 
one  man  dying  by  the  roadside.  He  was  a  mass  of  fester- 
ing corruption,  and  lay  in  the  ditch  with  not  a  single 
attendant.  He,  probably,  was  not  able  to  purchase  a 
coffin,  and  will  be  tumbled  into  a  common  pauper's  grave, 
forming  mounds  similar  to  those  we  saw  in  the  fields,  and 
where  the  burial  interferes  but  a  few  minutes  with  the 
cultivation  of  the  soil  where  the  deposit  is  made.  These 
Chinese  till  the  soil  in  the  midst  of  the  coffins,  and  doubt- 
less think  the  manure  thus  obtained  cheap  and  of  good 
quality.  I  have  all  the  respect  in  the  world  for  mission- 
aries, but  the  revenue  of  a  prince  would  be  small  induce- 
ment for  me  to  engage  in  the  business  of  saving  souls  in 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  141 

China.  In  the  Concession,  of  course,  every  thing  is  dif- 
ferent. Here  they  have  churches,  cemeteries,  and  other 
evidences  of  civilization. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  convey  an  idea  of  the 
crowded  condition  of  the  native  city  of  Shanghai.  The 
streets  are  so  narrow  that  it  seems  they  would  not  contain 
half  the  people  should  the  entire  population  simultaneously 
conceive  the  idea  of  a  walk.  When  a  fire  breaks  out  the 
loss  of  life  from  tramjjing  down  and  burning  must  be  very 
great.  I  can  not  imagine  how  the  entire  city  is  saved 
from  destruction  under  such  circumstances,  the  houses  be- 
ing all  constructed  of  the  most  combustible  kinds  of  wood. 

On  Sunday  Mrs.  Converse  and  myself  took  a  stroll 
through  the  Concession,  and  found  it,  as  I  have  said,  quite 
respectable  in  appearance.  It  becoming  necessary  to  repair 
one  of  my  companion's  shoes,  we  stepped  into  a  filthy  lit- 
tle cobbler's  den,  and  were  much  amused  by  the  attention 
a  lady's  foot  gear  attracted  among  the  workmen.  They 
had  evidently  never  before  enjoyed  such  an  opportunity 
for  satisfying  their  curiosity. 

In  drawing  a  comparison  between  the  Chinese  and 
Japanese  every  thing  is  in  favor  of  the  latter.  There  is 
something  sinister  in  the  countenance  of  every  Chinaman 
that  would  deter  me  from  placing  myself  in  his  unre- 
strained power  for  a  moment.  They  are  any  thing  but 
honest,  and  have  a  way  of  expressing  their  feeling  by  a 
look  that  conveys  volumes  of  meaning. 

During  one  of  our  numerous  strolls  we  embraced  the 
opportunity  to  view  the  lepers.  Here  again  words  fail 
me.  Let  any  of  my  imaginative  readers  picture  to  him- 
self the  most  sickening  combination  of  horrors  that  his 
mind  can  conceive,  and  add  to  that  a  hundred  fold,  and  it 
will  fall  far  short  of  the  scenes  we  viewed  among  the 
lepers  of  Shanghai.     We  saw  one  dying  in  a  ditch  by  the 


142  WHAT  I  SAW, 

roadside,  in  the  last  stage  of  the  disease.  He  was  covered 
from  head  to  foot  with  yellow,  green,  blue,  and  brown 
sores,  all  exuding  the  foulest  corruption.  Bah!  my  stom- 
ach is  not  equal  to  the  task  of  a  further  description,  even 
if  my  pen  did  not  fail.  It  was  a  relief  to  get  back  to 
our  hotel  and  sit  down  to  an  elegant  American  meal  of 
steak,  vegetables,  and  every  thing  that  could  tempt  an 
appetite.  Ugh !  Every  mouthful  of  the  food  bore  with 
it  a  nauseating  remembrance  of  the  scenes  through  Avhich 
we  had  just  passed. 

We  did  not  visit  any  of  the  missionaries  here.  They 
must  indeed  be  a  self-sacrificing  people  to  throw  away 
their  time  and  lives  endeavoring  to  save  the  souls  of  such 
brutes,  and  while  I  respect  their  cause  as  much  as  any 
one  could,  I  have  little  confidence  in  their  judgment.  If 
they  do  not  get  a  surfeit  of  China  in  five  years  (the  time 
usually  stipulated)  I  will  be  surprised.  AVe  secured  more 
than  a  surfeit  in  as  many  days.  I  would  demand  a  deed 
in  fee  simple  to  all  the  real  estate  of  Crawford  County  as 
an  inducement  to  stay  one  year  within  the  walls  of  Shang- 
hai. I  do  n^t  think  England  could  do  the  Chinese  a  greater 
favor  than  to  blow  them  up  with  shot  and  shell.  The 
victims  of  British  cupidity  had  at  least  a  decent  way  of 
of  dying,  which  is  more  than  can  be  said  of  their  manner 
of  living.  I  may  yet  have  occasion  to  give  a  worse  account 
of  some  other  nation,  but  I  hope  not.  If  my  stable  boy 
did  not  keep  the  cattle  stalls  cleaner  than  the  Chinese  do 
their  temples,  I  would  thrash  him  within  an  inch  of  his 
life.  In  one  temple  we  saw  cords  of  wood  and  vast  col- 
lections of  clothing  for  the  use  of  the  gods.  What  ulti- 
mately becomes  of  it,  I  do  not  know.  These  people  have 
had  under  their  eyes  for  forty  years  the  examples  of  civ- 
ilization in  the  Concession,  yet  they  do  not  profit  by  it  in 
the  least. 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  143 

My  readers  may  think  the  dark  picture  I  have  pre- 
sented is  overdrawn.  On  the  contrary,  the  half  has  not 
been  told.  No  description  has  ever  done  the  filthy  Chinese 
full  justice,  and  never  can.  To  be  appreciated  in  the  full 
extent  of  their  foulness  they  must  be  seen,  and  even  then 
the  observer,  like  us,  will  be  more  than  content  with  a 
glance. 

There  is  probably  no  place  on  earth  more  cosmopolitan 
than  the  foreign  city  at  Shanghai.  It  is  interesting  to  look 
over  the  hotel  register  and  note  arrivals  from  America, 
Liberia,  Borneo,  Australia,  India,  Egypt,  Germany,  Eng- 
land, etc.  A  day  or  two  since  there  were  numbered  among 
the  guests  a  gentleman  and  lady  from  Eastern  Siberia. 

To-morrow  we  sail  on  the  Pacific  and  Oriental  steamer 
Kashgar  for  Hong  Kong,  and  right  glad  are  we  to  get 
away  from  this  human  cesspool,  though  perhaps  we  will 
be  but  "jumping  out  of  the  frying-pan  into  the  fire."  "NVe 
expect  to  arrive  in  Hong  Kong  in  four  days. 


144  WHAT  I  SAW. 


XIII. 

Shanghai  to  Hong  Kong — Something  of  the  Latter  City — 
Chinese  Filial  Affection  Illustrated — The  Writer  soon 
Satisfied  with  the  Heathen — His  Picture  and  those  of 
Others  Compared — A  Brief  Disquisition  upon  the  Value  op 
the  Chinaman  as  a  Citizen. 

Hong  Kong,  China,  November  14, 1S81. 

We  left  Shanghai  with  few  regrets  on  the  9th,  and 
arrived  here  on  yesterday,  the  13th,  on  board  a  Pacific  and 
Oriental  steamer,  which,  like  most  of  the  trading  vessels 
in  this  part  of  the  world,  sails  under  the  British  flag. 
Our  company  on  shipboard  was  such  as  would  have  been 
enjoyed  by  the  most  cosmopolitan.  We  had  Americans, 
English,  Australians,  Malays,  Chinese,  Parsees,  French, 
and  the  Lord  only  knows  what  others  with  whose  nativity 
we  were  not  acquainted.  In  the  cargo  was  a  carefully 
selected  consignment  of  Chinese  ponies,  bound  for  Borneo — 
those  peculiar  little  animals  which  might  perhaps  be  best 
described  as  a  cross  between  a  Texan  broncho  and  a  mule, 
were  such  a  combination  not  a  physical  impossibility. 
They  are  caught  away  up  in  the  country,  a  distance  of 
a  thousand  or  two  miles,  and  driven  to  the  coast  in  cara- 
vans, where  they  are  sold  for  whatever  they  will  bring. 
The  color  is  mostly  white,  and  the  breed  is  of  that  stubby 
character  that  makes  u])  in  viciousuess  what  they  lack  in  size. 
I  speak  of  them  as  a  cross  between  a  Texan  broncho  and  a 
mule,  because  with  the  unadulterated  cussedness  of  the  lat- 
ter they  unite  the  wickedness  and  the  phenomenal  endurance 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  145 

of  the  former.  On  shipboard  they  are  securely  fastened 
each  in  a  separate  cage,  arid  seemingly  occupy  their  time 
almost  wholly  in  forming  new  schemes  for  deviltry,  when 
once  they  get  loose.  I  would  rather,  much  rather,  how- 
ever, trust  one  of  them  than  I  would  a  Chinaman.  The 
pony  you  know  is  treacherous,  and  in  the  Chinaman  you 
are  apt  to  be  deceived  by  the  "child-like  smile,"  and 
suffer  in  due  j)roportiou  to  the  deception.  It  is  more 
than  likely  that  in  my  last  I  spoke  of  the  Chinamen  as  a 
peculiar  people.  Well,  each  day  adds  to  our  knowledge 
of  their  peculiarities,  and  presents  some  features  which 
have  an  irresistible  tendency  to  increase  our  disgust  with 
the  whole  race.  We  are  told  in  America  by  the  friends 
of  Chinese  immigration  that  it  is  only  the  worst  class  who 
emigrate;  that  those  w^ho  remain  in  their  native  land  are 
of  a  superior  class,  etc.  It  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to 
add  to  what  I  have  said  my  utter  disbelief  of  such  stories. 
The  Chinaman,  as  we  have  seen  him  "on  his  native  heath," 
in  the  full  enjoyment  of  his  natural  penchant  for  squalor 
and  filth,  is  sunk  many  degrees  below  any  thing  I  ever 
saw  in  America.  Even  the  lowest  dive  amid  the  slimy 
dungeons  of  Chinatown,  San  Francisco,  is  a  j^alace  of 
purity  and  its  inmates  paragons  of  decency  compared  w'ith 
the  reeking  cesspools  wherein  the  native  lolls  and  stinks 
in  the  principal  streets  of  Shanghai.  It  may  be  that  in 
the  country  and  villages  the  condition  of  the  people  is 
better,  but  I  am  much  disposed  to  doubt  it.  A  Chinaman 
does  not  take  kindly  to  cleanliness.  He  despises  a  bath- 
tub worse  than  he  does  a  "  foreign  devil,"  and  would  have 
no  use  for  one  except  as  a  means  to  add  to  the  prevailing 
filth  of  his  surroundings.  The  language,  as  perhaps  some 
of  my  readers  know,  is  a  nerve-rasping  jargon  of  sounds 
that  cause  wonder  w^hy  the  articulator  does  not  break  his 
neck  in  the  attempt  to  speak  it.     I  have  never  yet  seen,. 

10 


146  WHAT  I  SAW, 

if  my  recollection  serves  me  right,  a  Chinaman  who  had 
completely  mastered  the  English  language.  For  instance, 
you  meet  one  here  who  claims  to  talk  English,  and  ask 
him  what  time  it  is.  If  it  is  a  quarter  past  six  o'clock, 
you  will  receive  for  a  reply :  "  Six  clock,  half  past  fifteen 
minute  no  come,"  whereby  he  means  to  convey  the  im- 
pression that  it  would  be  half-past  six  o'clock  were  it  not  for 
the  fifteen  minutes  that  have  not  yet  expired.  Very  intel- 
ligible, isn't  it?  I  think  such  a  jumble  of  words  is  as  dis- 
gusting as  every  thing  else  we  have  seen  in  China.  That  is 
what  they  they  call  "  pigeon  English,"  though  it  sounds 
to  me  like  jackdaw  English.  But  this  "  pigeon  English  " 
has  its  valuable  use.  To  the  visitor,  on  his  arrival  here, 
it  seems  like  an  unnecessary  and  puerile  affectation.  But 
this  is  a  mistake.  Native  agents,  servants,  etc.,  must  be 
employed.  They  do  not  understand  any  foreign  languages, 
and  foreign  residents  can  not  learn  Chinese.  A  dialect 
is  needed  for  mutual  communication.  "  Pigeon,"  to 
the  Chinese  ear,  means,  not  the  dove,  but  "business." 
"Pigeon  English"  means,  therefore,  "business  English," 
or  a  language  invented  and  used  to  facilitate  communica- 
tion between  business  men,  A  few  generic  names,  without 
any  variation  of  mood  or  tense,  constitute  the  vocabulary, 
which,  of  course,  contains  many  distinctively  and  purely 
Chinese  words.  "Will  this  horse  kick?"  In  pigeon 
English  :  "  Horse  makee  kick  ? "  "  Ask  consul  to  come 
here."  In  pigeon  English  it  is :  "  Catchee  consul,  bring 
come  this  side."  "  Bring  the  breakfast  quickly."  The 
rej)ly  is  more  nearly  pure  Chinese,  thus  :  "  Catchee  chow- 
chow,  chop-chop !"  I  understand,  and  I  believe  I  ob- 
tained my  information  from  so  reliable  a  source  as  Tank 
Kee,  who  lectured  through  the  States  during  the  past  two 
years,  that  pigeon  English  is  being  taught  in  the  schools 
of  the  Chinese  sea-ports,  and  promises  to  become  an  estab- 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  147 

lished  dialect.  A  language  it  can  never  be  until  its  basis 
is  somewhat  systematized.  What  a  deceiving  wretch  that 
Tank  Kee  is,  any  way !  I  would  like  to  hold  him  by  the 
swell  of  the  pants  and  the  nape  of  the  neck  over  some  of 
the  smells  and  sights  we  did  n't  enjoy  in  Shanghai,  and 
see  if  I  could  n't  induce  him  to  revise  his  lecture  upon  the 
"  Flowery  Kingdom  "  before  he  again  essays  to  impose  it 
upon  an  intelligent  American  audience. 

On  the  night  of  the  11th,  during  our  voyage  from 
Shanghai  to  Hong  Kong,  we  had  a  fine  view  of  the  phos- 
phorescent light  at  sea.  The  ocean  was  lit  up  as  if  by 
small  sheets  of  flame,  and  presented  a  scene  of  rare 
beauty.  Scientists  endeavor  to  account  for  this  phenom- 
enon in  various  ways,  although,  I  believe,  the  usually 
accepted  theory  is  that  of  reflections  from  phosphorescent 
fish,  not  dissimilar  from  the  peculiar  light  shed  by  the 
familiar  fire-fly,  or  "lightning-bug,"  as  it  was  known  in 
our  boyhood  days.  For  my  own  part,  I  am  free  to  con- 
fess that  I  do  not  know  any  thing  about  it,  and  am  not 
consumed  with  a  thirst  for  information  upon  a  point  of  so 
little  vital  importance. 

The  Chinese  sea,  which  we  have  once  crossed  and  again 
passed  through  almost  its  entire  length,  has  been  very  kind 
to  us.  We  have  escaped  the  periodical  typhoons  which, 
every  few  weeks  at  this  season,  make  things  very  lively 
for  the  Chinese  junks,  and  sometimes  prove  disastrous  to 
vessels  of  more  pretensions.  One  a  few  days  ago  de- 
stroyed hundreds  of  junks,  but  I  can  not  see  that  their 
numbers  have  been  sensibly  diminished.  In  the  ports 
they  throng  like  blue  flies  around  carrion,  and  during  the 
voyage  here  there  never  was  a  time  when  one  or  more 
were  not  in  sight.  These  junks,  by  the  way,  are  a  curious 
craft.  Large,  ill-shaped,  and  lubberly,  they  are  often  an 
obstruction  to  navigation,  and  how  they  manage  to  keep 


148  WHAT  I  SAW, 

afloat  even  during  an  ordinary  storm  is  a  marine  problem 
which  I  am  unable  to  solve.  They  all  have  two  eyes  in 
the  bow,  placed  there,  as  is  solemnly  asserted,  to  enable 
the  vessel  to  see  its  way,  and  no  Chinese  boatman  would 
think  of  venturing  out  unless  his  junk  was  provided  with 
the  great,  staring,  hideous  representations  of  eyes.  They 
consider  it  a  precursor  of  good  luck  to  pass  close  to  the 
bows  of  a  steamer,  at  great  risk  to  their  safety.  Often 
our  vessel  had  to  blow  its  whistle  to  warn  them  away,  and 
even  then  they  are  occasionally  run  down.  I  am  inclined 
to  the  opinion  that  drowning  is  about  the  best  luck  that 
can  befall  a  Chinaman  any  way.  One  has  some  little 
assurance  that  he  will  appear  before  the  pearly  gates  com- 
paratively clean,  at  least. 

Chinese  history  fails  to  give  any  account  of  a  currency 
except  the  copper  and  iron  "  cash,"  the  former  being  worth 
one-tenth  of  the  American  cent,  and  the  latter  one-twen- 
tieth. They  have  no  paper  currency,  and  no  silver  or 
gold  of  their  own.  I  can  now  readily  see  where  all  our 
trade  and  Mexican  dollars  go  to.  They  find  a  resting 
place  out  in  the  back  country  of  China,  and  seldom  or 
never  again  reach  the  marts  of  civilization.  The  trade  in 
silks,  teas,  and  rice  is  done  by  means  of  silver  bricks, 
called  "taels,"  cast  to  weigh  one  dollar  thirty-three  and 
one-third  cents,  and  double,  quadruple,  and  so  on.  Ex- 
change is  about  twelve  per  cent  in  the  traveler's  favor. 

The  view  upon  approaching  Hong  Kong  is  very  diiferent 
from  that  presented  on  nearing  Shanghai.  Instead  of  the 
low,  straggling  shores,  of  a  marshy  appearance,  suggestive 
of  chills  and  fever,  we  are  greeted  by  three  mountains,  of 
several  hundred  feet  altitude,  rising  abruptly  from  the  sea, 
and  occupied  almost  to  their  summits  by  the  elegant  and 
tasteful  residences  of  the  English  and  American  merchants 
and  shippers.     Hong  Kong  is  an  island,  long  since  con- 


AND  HOW  I  SA  ]V  IT.  149 

quered  by  Great  Britain,  and  is  not,  except  geographically, 
a  part  of  China  at  all.  There  is  not  so  much  shipping 
here  as  at  Shanghai,  but  the  business  of  different  kinds 
seems  to  be  more  substantial.  The  shore  line  is  semi- 
circular in  form,  and  as  we  view  it  from  the  deck  of  the 
vessel,  at  a  distance  of  perhaps  a  mile,  the  city  brilliantly 
illuminated,  with  the  terraces,  which  wind  around  the 
mountain  face,  forming  a  pleasant  background  to  the  pic- 
ture, and  the  beautiful  bay  in  front,  is  most  entrancing. 
While  enjoying  it  one  can  almost  forget  that  he  is  in 
China.  The  city  is  really  handsome,  tastefully  laid  out, 
scrupulously  clean,  and  reminds  the  visitor  of  some  thriv- 
ing English  sea-port.  The  Chinese  quarters  are  an  elysium 
compared  with  Shanghai,  but  I  more  than  suspect  that  the 
propinquity  of  English  policemen  has  much  more  to  do 
with  it  than  the  natural  or  acquired  inclinations  of  the 
Chinaman. 

Some  two  miles  out  is  the  English  burial  place,  cer- 
tainly the  handsomest  city  of  the  dead  I  ever  beheld,  and 
when  compared  with  the  Chinese  Gehenna  at  Shanghai 
doubly  beautiful.  It  is  situated  in  a  basin,  surrounded  by 
high  hills,  and  elegantly  shaded  by  the  tasteful  fern  palms, 
growing  a  leaf  from  eight  to  ten  feet  in  length.  Many 
other  tropical  trees  lend  beauty  to  the  place,  and  do  much 
to  rob  death  of  its  horrors  when  the  mortal  part  can  be 
laid  in  such  a  place. 

Hong  Kong  is,  of  course,  a  strong  military  post.  It 
would  not  be  English  if  it  was  n't,  and  they  keep  a  large 
reserve  force  of  red- coats  here.  I  suppose  they  are  re- 
quired to  kill  a  few  Chinamen  occasionally,  that  those  who 
are  so  unfortunate  as  to  remain  alive  may  learn  something 
of  what  is  due  to  civilization.  The  only  trouble,  to  my 
view,  is  that  they  do  not  kill  one-tenth  enough. 

At  this  point  the  number  of  Chinese  junks  is  simply 


150  WHAT  I  SAW, 

incalculable.  Thousands  of  Chinese  live  on  these  boats — 
are  born,  reared,  and  die  on  them — and  I  am  told  that 
some  of  them  contain  as  many  as  three  generations  of  the 
family.  The  coolies  belonging  to  these  water  craft  do  all 
the  work  in  loading  and  unloading  vessels,  and  their  labor 
is  cheaper  than  to  employ  steam.  Steam  costs  something, 
and  the  coolies  so  little  that  it  is  scarcely  worth  consider- 
ing. It  would  be  supposed  that  in  so  dense  an  uncivilized 
population  little  care  would  be  taken  of  the  children. 
Well,  this  depends  upon  circumstances.  Boys  are  usually 
pretty  well  cared  for,  because  their  labor  promises  to  be 
valuable,  but  girls  are  always  neglected  and  often  drowned 
at  birth.  To-day  I  pleased  a  Chinese  parent  immensely 
by  patting  a  boy  upon  the  head.  Had  it  been  a  girl  I 
would  have  been  scorned. 

The  bay,  as  I  have  said,  is  constantly  crowded  with 
"sampans"  and  other  Chinese  craft  for  hire.  "VVe  took 
one  to-day  for  the  purpose  of  reaching  the  shore,  and 
learned  something  more,  illustrative  of  the  Chinese  con- 
tempt for  girl  babies.  The  boat  in  which  we  embarked 
was  controlled  by  an  entire  family,  the  mother,  as  is 
usually  the  case,  steering  and  the  children  helping  their 
father  to  row.  I  asked  the  woman  by  pointing  to  one  of 
the  urchins  about  three  years  old,  if  it  was  a  boy.  "  Yes," 
she  answered,  and  the  same  reply  was  given  regarding  the 
second,  but  when  I  inquired  the  sex  of  the  third,  she 
turned  away  with  a  shame-faced  look,  and  I  knew  it  was 
a  girl.  I  noticed  also  that  each  of  the  boys  had  a  small  log 
of  wood  fast  to  him,  so  if  he  fell  overboard  he  would 
float.  The  girl  had  no  floater  attachment,  and  I  have  not 
the  least  doubt  those  parents  would  be  glad  if  she  did  get 
drowned. 

On  Sunday  it  rained  all  day,  and  I  went  ashore  alone 
in  the  afternoon  to  get  a   tooth  pulled,  as  it  had  com- 


AND  HO W  I  SAW  IT.  151 

menced  to  remind  me  by  sundry  nervous  twinges  that 
some  such  services  were  needed.  I  found  a  foreign  dentist, 
and  he  began  operations,  but  suddenly  ceased — at  my  per- 
emptory request.  I  suppose  the  advice  is  unnecessary,  but 
let  me  say  to  my  readers,  do  n't  you  ever  come  to  China 
for  your  dentistry.  Why,  I  would  rather  have  every  tooth 
in  my  head  ache  for  a  continuous  week  than  to  have  that 
pesky  tooth-carpenter  operate  on  one  of  them  for  five 
minutes,  and  he  is  n't  a  Chinaman  either. 

Our  programme  as  originally  laid  out  included  a  much 
longer  stay  in  China  than  we  have  made  or  intend  to 
make,  for  to-morrow  we  sail  for  Ceylon  and  India,  from 
which  former  place  my  next  letter  will  be  dated.  Our 
reasons  for  this  are  varied.  As  primarily  arranged  our 
programme  did  not  allow  for  unavoidable  delays.  These 
we  have  so  far  escaped,  but  we  think  it  prudent  to  pro- 
vide for  them  by  being  a  little  ahead  of  time.  In  addi- 
tion to  this,  inland  travel  in  China  is  not  as  safe  from  the 
annoyances  of  pirates  as  could  be  desired,  particularly  on 
the  rivers,  where  a  traveler's  life  is  usually  worth  about 
the  amount  of  money  he  has  in  his  pockets — at  least  the 
heathen  Chinese  do  not  hesitate  when  an  opportunity 
offers  to  cause  him  to  lose  both  in  the  exchange.  We 
were  given  to  understand  that  these  difficulties  are  very 
frequently  encountered  on  the  river  between  here  and 
Canton,  which  city,  said  to  be  the  largest  and  filthiest  in 
China,  is  about  ninety  miles  up  the  river  from  Hong 
Kong.  We  would  like  much  to  visit  Canton,  and  every 
other  city  in  the  "  Stinking  Empire,"  but  encounters  with 
beastly  Chinese  robbers  were  not  laid  down  in  our  pro- 
gramme, and  we  will  permit  no  interpolation,  particularly 
of  that  kind.  I  am  of  the  opinion,  and  others  bear  me 
out  in  it,  that  there  is  much  sameness  among  the  cities  of 
China.     They  all  look  alike,  they  all  smell  alike,  the  peo- 


152  WHAT  J  SAW, 

pie  look  and  act  similarly,  and  when  you  have  gazed  upon 
one  you  have  seen  all. 

Now,  good  reader,  I  am  just  as  fully  aware  as  you  can 
be  that  the  tone  of  what  I  have  written  about  China  has 
not  the  same  sound  as  the  effusions  of  others.  There  is 
an  excellent  reason.  We  and  some  others  look  upon  it 
from  very  different  stand-points.  One  of  the  most  inter- 
esting works  which  I  have  read  upon  the  country  is  that 
of  Hon.  Wm.  H.  Seward.  Mr.  Seward,  though  traveling 
in  an  unofficial  capacity,  was  everywhere  recognized  as  the 
representative  of  the  United  States  Government.  He  was 
universally  feted  and  feasted  by  the  officials,  and  was  never 
allowed  to  come  in  contact  with  the  common  people.  He 
never  witnessed  them  in  the  full  depths  of  their  misery, 
squalor,  and  degradation  as  we  and  others  have  done. 
His  communications  were  wholly  with  mandarins  and 
other  officials  of  the  government,  who  are  perhaps  well 
enough  in  themselves,  and  certainly  would  have  been  slow 
to  show  Mr.  Seward  life  in  China  as  it  really  exists  among 
the  low  and  middle  classes.  The  same  is  true  of  the  story 
of  Grant's  tour.  We  are  traveling  as  private  citizens,  un- 
hampered by  official  courtesies,  and  see  the  Chinese  largely 
as  they  see  themselves.  There  is  a  vast  difference  between 
a  mandarin's  palace  and  a  coolie's  hut  or  cellar.  We  have 
seen  both,  and  can  draw  a  much  more  lifelike  picture, 
particularly  of  the  latter,  than  those  who  came  here  as  the 
guests  of  the  government  and  went  away  as  thoroughly 
hoodwinked  regarding  realities  as  it  was  to  the  interest 
of  the  government  that  they  should  be. 

It  is  from  this  province  of  Canton  that  all  the  emigra- 
tion to  America  goes,  and  every  day  there  are  large  arriv- 
als from  up  the  river  for  that  purpose.  They  are  a  sorry- 
looking  set,  which  the  experience  of  Americans  has  taught 
them  add  nothing  to  the  wealth  or  prosperity  of  the  coun- 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  153 

try,  but,  on  the  contrary,  detract  largely  from  it.  There 
is  a  pretense  made  by  the  American  consul  of  demanding 
evidence  that  emigrants  go  voluntarily.  Perhaps  it  is 
more  than  a  pretense.  ^lay  be  it  is  rigid.  But  what  of 
it  ?  Wherein  does  that  remedy  the  difficulty  ?  The  fact 
still  remains  that  these  heathens  are  a  positive  detriment 
to  any  country  which  they  may  curse  with  their  presence, 
a  festering  canker  upon  civilization  and  a  sickening  stench 
in  the  nostrils  of  every  decent  person  under  the  sun. 
Nothing  can  be  more  certain  than  that  immigrants  who 
can  not  be  brought  up  to  the  plane  of  civilization  tend  to 
drag  down  to  their  level  the  people  among  whom  they 
locate.  No  Chinaman  ever  assimilates  or  seeks  to  assim- 
ilate with  the  American  people.  They  take  with  them  to 
the  States  their  modes  of  life,  thoughts  and  guides  of 
action  and  their  beastly  and  disgusting  habits.  These 
they  retain  religiously,  and  thus  exert  a  demoralizing  in- 
fluence upon  the  people  with  whom  they  are  brought  in 
contact.  Every  consideration  demands  that  they  should 
be  excluded  as  rigidly  as  the  plague. 

AYe  expected  on  our  arrival  here  to  receive  news  from 
home,  but  disappointment  awaited  us,  and  we  must  needs 
be  contented  until  we  reach  Singapore.  We  will  then 
have  been  absent  from  home  for  four  months.  As  we 
leave  so  soon,  for  the  reasons  given  above,  we  will  really 
see  less  of  China  than  any  other  country  visited,  but  the 
little  is  quite  sufficient.  In  China  we  find  a  new  applica- 
tion for  the  old  couplet : 

"  Man  wants  but  little  here  below, 
Isor  wants  that  little  long." 

Here  we  are  in  the  tropics,  on  the  same  latitude  as  the 
City  of  Mexico.  It  is  either  hot  or  raining  all  the  time, 
and  when  it  is  n't  either  it  is  both.     As  we  progress  south- 


154  WHAT  I  SAW, 

ward  it  will  of  course  continue  to  get  warmer,  until  we 
reach  Singapore,  which  is  but  about  forty  miles  north  of 
the  equator. 

I  was  mistaken  in  saying  on  leaving  Japan  that  the 
letter  then  written  would  be  the  last  that  would  reach  you 
by  the  way  of  California.  This,  however,  is  the  last  that 
will  go  that  route,  and  for  that  reason  I  must  soon  get  it 
in  the  mail.  My  next  letter  will  be  carried  with  us  to 
Ceylon  and  there  posted,  to  go  ahead  of  us  by  way  of  the 
Suez  canal  and  Liverpool.  We  will  remain  in  Ceylon 
twelve  days  and  about  thirty  in  India,  and  expect  to  spend 
Christmas  at  Lucknow,  with  a  missionary  with  whom  we 
chance  to  be  acquainted.  Then  we  go  to  Egypt,  up  the 
Nile,  and  thence  to  the  Holy  Land,  calculating  upon 
reaching  Jerusalem  about  the  5th  of  March.  "What  vicis- 
situdes, experiences — pleasurable  and  otherwise — will  be 
crowded  into  those  four  months?  Perhaps  sickness;  may 
be  death.  We  can  only  pray  that  Providence  during  the 
remainder  of  our  journey  may  vouchsafe  us  a  continuance 
of  the  blessing  of  his  watchful  protection  that  has  so  pre- 
served us  in  the  past. 

As  I  draw  my  letter  to  a  close,  and  glance  through  the 
"bull's  eye/'  which,  open,  provides  ventilation,  and  closed, 
furnishes  light  to  our  apartment  on  shipboard,  I  witness 
the  novel  scene  of  the  coolies  loading  the  vessel.  The 
cargo  consists  largely  of  raw  silk,  tea,  rice,  and  sugar, 
sufficient,  I  should  think,  to  fill  three  hundred  freight 
cars.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  we  take  oil  in  bamboo 
baskets;  rather  an  odd  receptacle  for  oil,  you  no  doubt 
think.  These  baskets  are  thoroughly  lined  with  paper, 
and  hold,  I  think,  about  two  barrels  of  oil. 

The  purser  is  calling  out  "  Mail  for  Japan !"  and  I 
must  close. 


AND  HO W  I  SAW  IT.  155 


XIV. 

Hong  Kong  to  Singapore — Scenes  and  Incidents  of  the  Voyage — 
The  "Blarsted  Britishers"  and  Their  Ideas  of  America — 
Singapore — Its  People  and  Other  Inhabitants — A  Paralyzing 
Snake  Story. 

Point  De  Galle,  Ceylon,  November  27,  1881. 

This  letter  will  be  necessarily  wholly  retrospective,  as 
we  have  just  arrived  at  this  point,  the  principal  port  in 
the  island  of  Ceylon,  after  a  voyage  of  thirteen  days  from 
Hong  Kong,  and  a  brief  visit  to  Singapore  and  Penang. 

After  mailing  my  last  letter  we  still  had  a  few  hours 
at  our  disposal  before  the  vessel  sailed,  which  were  devoted 
to  a  partial  ascent  of  the  hill  or  mountain  that  towers 
above  the  city  of  Hong  Kong.  The  mountain  is  twelve 
hundred  feet  in  height  and  very  steep,  and  our  ambition 
to  survey  the  city  and  its  surroundings  from  the  summit 
was  doomed  to  disappointment,  as  an  ascent  of  seven  hun- 
dred and  twenty  feet  was  the  limit  of  our  breath  and 
energy.  I  have  traveled  some  in  different  parts  of  the 
world,  and  have  learned  some  things.  Among  others,  that 
the  ambition  which  leads  one  to  ascend  high  mountains, 
where  danger  lurks  in  every  footstep  and  every  breath  is 
painful,  is  a  delusion  and  a  snare.  If  my  readers  ex- 
pect me  to  detail  the  thrilling  experiences  at  Mt.  Blanc 
or  the  Matterhorn  they  will  be  disappointed.  True,  we 
have  not  reached  Switzerland  yet,  but  I  desire  to  notify 
our  friends  that  climbing  mountains  at  the  imminent  risk 
of  our  necks  is  not  our  forte.     Such  foolhardiness  is  not 


156  WHA  T  I  SA  W, 

down  on  our  programme.  We  can  find  more  novelties  on 
level  ground  than  we  will  be  able  to  describe  or  even  re- 
member. * 

All  this,  however,  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  view  of 
Hong  Kong  and  vicinity  from  the  mountain  in  the  rear. 
The  picture  as  presented  was  beautiful  and,  had  time  per- 
mitted, could  have  been  made  the  subject  of  several  hours' 
interesting  study.  At  our  feet  lay  the  busy  city,  teeming 
with  life  and  commercial  activity.  Beyond,  the  harbor,  a 
vast  network  of  steamers  and  sailing  vessels — water  craft  of 
every  nation,  and  of  every  size  and  shape,  from  the  skurry- 
ing  Chinese  sampan  to  the  slow-moving  and  majestic  Pacific 
and  Oriental  steamer.  Perhaps  in  no  seaport  in  the  world 
can  be  found  a  greater  variety  of  shipping  than  in  Hong 
Kong.  Flags  of  all  nations  flutter  in  the  wind,  and 
weary  the  eye  with  the  constantly  varying  display  of 
bunting.  Alongside  the  cross  of  St.  George  and  the  tri- 
color of  France  flies  the  white  elephant  of  Siam,  the 
double-headed  eagle  of  Russia,  the  Turkish  crescent,  or 
the  peculiarly  Chinese  banner  of  the  "  Flowery  Kingdom." 
Occasionally  also  one  may  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  glorious 
stars  and  stripes,  but  to  our  shame  be  it  said,  the  Ameri- 
can flag  is  almost  a  curiosity  in  Oriental  waters.  At 
intervals  these  ports  are  visited  by  a  representative  of  the 
American  na\'y,  but,  with  these  exceptions,  our  flag  is  sel- 
dom seen.  Here,  as  elsewhere  throughout  the  world,  the 
carrying  trade  is  done  largely  by  the  English. 

We  sailed  from  Hong  Kong  at  five  o'clock  on  the  14th 
for  Singapore  and  Ceylon.  After  getting  under  way,  we 
passed  out  between  numerous  islands,  which  reminded  us 
of  the  inland  sea  of  Japan.  At  a  distance  from  port  of 
fifteen  miles  these  were  left  behind,  and  we  entered  the 
broad  expanse  of  the  China  Sea. 

Our   passenger   list   presented    the    usual    variety,    the 


AND  HOW  1  SA  W  IT.  157 

cabin  during  the  hours  devoted  to  recreation  resounding 
"u-ith  such  a  conglomeration  of  sound  as  one  would  think 
had  not  been  heard  since  the  confusion  which  puzzled  the 
people  at  the  Tower  of  Babel.  We  had  on  board  pas- 
sengers for  Java,  Sumatra,  Ceylon,  Egypt,  Italy,  and  Eng- 
land, but  none  for  America  except  our  humble  selves. 
Our  crew  consisted  of  one  hundred  officers  and  sailors. 
The  vessel  was  as  neat  and  trim  a  traveler  of  the  ocean 
as  one  would  care  to  find ;  the  officers  and  attendants  at 
all  times  courteous  and  obliging.  The  steamer,  while  not 
the  largest  by  any  means,  being  but  three  hundred  and 
sixty  feet  long,  forty  wide,  and  forty -eight  deep,  surprised 
us  who  witnessed  a  large  part  of  the  loading,  with  her  ca- 
pacity. I  calculated  that,  allowing  ten  tons  as  a  car  load, 
we  carried  from  Hong  Kong  to  Singapore  a  cargo  that 
would  fill  two  hundred  and  fifty  cars,  sufficient  to  consti- 
tute thirteen  trains  such  as  are  transported  on  the  rail- 
roads in  America.  We  have  of  tea  alone  one  hundred 
car  loads,  and  a  like  number  of  silk,  and  the  remainder 
of  sundries. 

On  leaving  China,  I  estimated  that  we  had  traveled  by 
sea  not  less  than  seven  thousand  five  hundred  miles,  and 
during  that  time  neither  of  us  had  missed  more  than  two 
days  from  our  duty  at  the  table.  The  loss  of  meals  for 
two  days  was  during  a  slight  attack  of  sea-sickness  en 
route  from  San  Francisco  to  Yokohama.  We  have  much 
cause  to  be  thankful  for  our  remarkable  preservation  from 
the  ills  and  dangers  that  constantly  beset  the  traveler. 

During  the  voyage  we  were  forcibly  struck  by  the 
prevalence  of  excessive  drinking,  and  that,  too,  among  a 
class  of  people  from  whom  we  would  naturally  expect 
better  things.  We  witnessed  on  the  ship  scenes  of  inebri- 
ety, indulged  in  by  ladies  of  recognized  social  position 
and  rank,  that  would  have  disgraced  the  lowest  saloon  in 


158  WHAT  I  SAW, 

America.  I  am  sorry  to  mention  these  little  incidents, 
but  I  am  disposed  to  describe  events  as  they  really  occur, 
and  not  as  they  should  be.  If  questioned  and  asked  to 
assign  a  reason  for  the  prevailing  indulgence  in  stimulants, 
these  English  people  lay  it  to  "the  blarsted  climate,  you 
know !"  Now  that  is  a  flimsy  excuse,  a  silly  subterfuge. 
My  experience  convinces  me  that  drinking  in  China  or 
India  is  like  similar  indulgence  in  England  or  America. 
It  is  simply  a  habit,  a  pernicious  practice,  just  as  repre- 
hensible in  Hong  Kong  or  Singapore  as  in  London  or 
New  York.  I  must,  however,  qualify  that  remark  to 
some  extent.  At  Shanghai  or  elsewhere  in  the  midst  of 
the  odoriferous  Chinese,  excessive  drinking  is  excusable. 
If  I  were  compelled  to  remain  among  them,  drunkenness 
would  soon  become  my  chronic  condition,  and  I  would 
w^elcome  the  day  that  it  killed  me.  Any  decent  man  can 
live  longer  on  whisky  than  he  can  exposed,  in  his  sober 
senses,  to  the  horrible  sights  and  more  horrible  smells  of 
the  beastly  Chinese. 

During  the  voyage,  we  had  the  full  benefit  of  the 
north-east  monsoon,  or  trade  winds,  which  bowled  us  along 
at  the  rate  of  twelve  or  thirteen  miles  per  hour.  On  the 
17th  we  passed  east  of  the  Gulf  of  Tonquin,  in  latitude 
the  same  as  the  southern  shore  of  the  island  of  Cuba. 
The  heat  at  this  time  began  to  be  oppressive,  the  ther- 
mometer at  sun-up  standing  at  seventy-eight  degrees. 
This  was,  however,  balmy  spring  compared  with  what  we 
afterward  experienced  at  Singapore  and  Penang,  where 
the  mercury  danced  around  in  the  vicinity  of  one  hundred 
degrees  in  the  shade,  and  almost  anywhere  short  of  two 
hundred  and  twelve  in  the  sun.  While  sweltering  beneath 
an  awning  on  the  upper  deck  of  the  steamer  and  vainly 
endeavoring  to  keep  comfortable,  our  minds  reverted  to 
our  friends  in  Ohio,  who  were  doubtless  wrapped  in  heavy 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  159 

overcoats  or  toasting  their  toes  before  a  fire.  We  were 
rapidly  approaching  that  portion  of  the  earth's  surface 
directly  opposite  you.  Singapore  is  almost  the  exact  anti- 
pode  of  Bucyrus. 

On  shipboard,  as  elsewhere,  we  were  struck  by  the  pe- 
culiarity which  universally  attaches  to  the  English  people. 
I    believe    I  spoke  of   this  subject  briefly  when  detailing 
the  voyage  from  San  Francisco  to  Japan.     In  our  more 
recent  trip  these  disagreeable  traits  seemed  even  more  con- 
spicuous.   We  had  on  board  eight  or  ten  English  "  swells," 
and    candor  compels  the  assertion  that  nowhere  have  we 
encountered  more  disagreeable  creatures,  except  Chinamen. 
They  were  given  to  rubbing  the  American  fur  the  wrong 
wav,  and  as  we  were  the  only  representatives  of  the  Great 
Republic  present,  the  wordy  collisions  were  by  no  means 
infrequent.     We   endeavored  to   hold  up  our  end  of  the 
American  log  with  considerable  vigor,  and,  we  flatter  our- 
selves, with  much  success.     As  a  class,  the  "blarsted  Brit- 
ishers"  know  but   little   of  America,  and  they   seem  to 
take  the  same  delight  in  displaying  their  ignorance  that 
more  intelligent  people  do  in  exhibiting  their  knowledge. 
One  asked  me  if  New  Orleans  is  near  to  San  Francisco, 
and  when  I  said  three  thousand  miles,  he  exhibited  un- 
mistakable  signs  of  incredulity.      I    have   not  the   least 
doubt  that  fellow  at  once  assigned  me  a  prominent  position 
on  his  list  of  liars.     Their  "  sophisticated  ignorance  "  re- 
minded me  much   of  the  story  of  the  English  lord  who 
came  over  to  America  on  a  hunting  expedition,  and  spent 
the  whole  night  on  the  rear  platform  of  an  Erie  railroad 
sleeper,  in  the  hope  of  securing  a  shot  at  a  "  ranch,"  which 
in  the  innocence  of  his  lordly  soul  he  thought  was  a  species 
of  buffalo.     A   lady  passenger  on  the  vessel   inquired  of 
me  if  it  was  really  safe  in  Salt  Lake  City.     With  a  well- 
assumed  air  of  earnestness,  I  told  her  that  thousands  of 


160  WHAT  I  SAW, 

people  had  gone  to  that  metropolis  of  the  briny  lake,  and 
never  returned.  I  did  not  eare  to  explain  that  they  were 
there  yet,  as  that  would  have  spoiled  the  look  of  horror, 
which  I  enjoyed  keenly. 

On  the  morning  of  the  19th  I  was  early  on  deck  to 
enjoy  the  first  view  of  the  mainland  of  Malacca.  It  was 
not  much  of  a  sight,  but  the  view  possessed  the  virtue  of 
being  an  incentive  to  early  rising.  We  were  surprised 
agreeably  by  the  uniform  calm  which  prevailed  during  our 
whole  voyage  on  the  China  Sea,  from  Shanghai  southward. 
The  surface  of  the  water  was  at  all  times  placid,  and  fre- 
quently dazzling  in  its  mirror-like  reflections. 

Before  noon  on  the  19th  we  sighted  the  city  of  Singa- 
pore, and  came  to  anchor  about  three  miles  from  the  shore. 
The  town  is  built  upon  an  island,  separated  from  the 
Malay  peninsula  by  a  narrow  and  scarcely  navigable  strait. 
The  ancient  capital  of  the  Malayan  kingdom,  or,  as  it  was 
sometimes  known,  the  Kingdom  of  Malacca,  formerly 
stood  upon  the  site  of  the  present  town.  The  old  city,  as 
history  tells  us,  was  built  in  the  twelfth  century,  and  con- 
quered by  a  chief  from  Java,  who  transferred  the  royal 
residence  to  Malacca.  From  that  period  its  population 
and  importance  gradually  declined,  until  in  1819,  when 
the  English  took  possession,  there  were  but  few  vestiges 
of  the  former  city,  which,  indeed,  had  become  but  a  haunt 
for  pirates.  The  town  bears  all  the  appearance  of  being 
in  a  most  prosperous  condition ;  its  port  is  always  crowded 
with  shipping,  and  its  merchants  are  thriving  and  wealthy. 
The  population  is  estimated  at  about  one  hundred  and 
sixty  thousand,  composed  of  representatives  from  almost 
every  nation  under  the  sun,  Jews,  Chinese,  Arabs,  Africans, 
Malays,  etc.,  with  perhaps  a  thousand  Europeans,  and  not 
more  than  a  score  of  Americans.  Singapore,  like  most 
other  places  except  heaven,  is  cursed  with  the  Chinese,  of 


AND  HO  W  I SA  W  IT.  161 

whom  there  are  at  least  seventy-five  thousand.  These 
various  peoples  retain  their  national  habits  and  customs, 
and  their  peculiar  modes  of  worship.  The  Chinaman 
grows  his  hirsute  tail,  smokes  his  opium,  and  offers  incense 
to  Joss ;  the  Arab  sports  his  turban,  invokes  the  name  of 
Allah,  and  prostrates  himself  in  the  mosque ;  while  the 
European  shaves  his  beard,  drinks  London  porter,  takes 
his  pew  in  church,  and  d — ns  the  Chinese.  There  is  a 
peculiarity  in  the  history  of  this  little  island  which  should 
not  be  overlooked.  It  was  actually  purchased  by  the 
British  Government,  thus  furnishing  perhaps  the  only  in- 
stance on  record  where  England  bought  that  which  she 
could  steal,  or  "  possess,"  to  use  a  more  diplomatic  term. 

The  city  of  Singapore  is  of  vast  importance  to  England. 
By  means  of  it,  and  with  an  effective  naval  force,  the  en- 
trance to  the  China  sea  may  be  controlled.  Its  position 
is  very  advantageous  in  a  commercial  point  of  view,  from 
which  it  has  become  an  entrepot  for  the  neighboring 
kingdoms  of  Sumatra,  Borneo,  Siam,  and  Cochin  China. 
Of  itself,  it  may  be  said  that  the  island  of  Singapore  has 
little  or  no  resources,  its  productions  being  very  limited, 
yet  so  advantageously  is  it  situated  that  it  is  to-day  per- 
haps the  most  important  commercial  depot  in  the  East 
Indies,  where  are  received  the  products  of  the  neighboring 
countries,  for  reciprocal  exchange,  and  from  whence  they 
reach  the  markets  of  the  world. 

The  island  upon  which  the  city  is  situated  is  but  about 
twenty-five  miles  long  by  fifteen  in  width.  The  authority 
of  the  English  possessors  extends,  however,  over  a  num- 
ber of  contiguous  and  smaller  islands.  The  main  island 
outside  of  the  city  is  distinguished  for  nothing  except 
tigers  and  snakes.  It  is  quite  fashionable  for  visitors  to 
engage  in  tiger  hunts,  but  as  I  could  not  remember  of 

having  lost  any  tiger,  I  was  not  favorably  impressed  with 

11 


162  WHAT  I  SAW, 

the  idea  of  hunting  one.  Neither  am  I  in  the  snake 
business.  These  tigers  are  of  the  sinion-2)ure  species,  gen- 
uine man-eaters,  who  prefer  human  flesh  to  any  other. 
I  was  told  that  they  have  a  special  fondness  for  China- 
men. From  that  moment  I  lost  my  respect  for  the  tiger. 
An  animal  that  will  eat  a  Chinaman  may  be  doing  the 
balance  of  the  human  race  a  favor,  but  his  choice  of  food 
is  not  to  be  commended.  It  is  said  these  animals  swim 
across  the  narrow  strait  that  separates  the  island  from 
the  main-land.  They  are  the  terror  of  all  the  residents 
outside  of  the  city  limits.  In  addition  to  the  tigers  there 
are  deer  and  wild  boar  found  upon  the  island,  as  well  as 
several  varieties  of  smaller  animals,  such  as  monkeys, 
peccaries,  etc. 

After  going  ashore  we  hired  a  gharry  and  started  out 
for  our  first  view  of  the  many  attractive  sights  in  the 
East  Indies.  This  conveyance  is  a  box  about  four  by  five 
feet,  mounted  upon  four  wheels,  and  drawn  by  a  scrubby 
little  pony.  The  driver  runs  alongside  the  animal  and 
urges  him  to  speed  by  persistent  lathering  fore  and  aft. 
After  the  proper  degree  of  momentum  has  been  secured, 
the  driver  will  spring  nimbly  to  a  seat  upon  the  thills  and 
we  scurry  through  the  streets  in  a  rapid  if  not  very  com- 
fortable or  dignified  manner.  The  true  beauty  of  a  trop- 
ical suburban  road,  lined  with  the  luxuriant  trees  peculiar 
to  the  zone,  is  beyond  the  power  of  my  pen  to  describe. 
We  went  out  in  the  country  some  distance,  careful,  how- 
ever, not  to  forget  the  warning  that  this  is  the  home  of 
the  tiger.  We  were  told  that  but  the  day  before  our 
arrival  a  tiger  was  killed  only  a  mile  beyond  the  city 
limits.  We  were  also  regaled  with  a  snake  story  that  will 
test  the  credulity  of  my  readers.  It  was  to  the  effect  that 
a  few  days  before  one  of  those  genial  reptiles  was  killed 
on  the  island,  just  after  it  had  swallowed  a  wild  boar,  that 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  163 

measured  one  handred  and  twenty  feet.  The  bones  are 
in  the  museum  there,  and  can  be  seen.  I  am  not  going 
to  ask  any  body  to  believe  this  yarn,  and  will  not  say  that 
I  am  fully  convinced  of  its  entire  truthfulness  myself. 
The  snakes  undoubtedly  grow  very  large  in  Singapore, 
but  I  do  not  think  they  fully  reach  the  colossal  propor- 
tions of  the  lies  of  the  natives. 

A  peculiarity  of  Singapore  is  the  houses  of  the  native 
Malays.  They  are  universally  built  upon  posts  about 
eight  feet  high.  This  style  of  architecture  in  the  tropics 
has  several  advantages.  The  elevation  protects  the  in- 
mates from  wild  animals  and  reptiles,  as  well  as  the  water, 
which,  following  heavy  rains,  often  covers  the  ground  in 
that  part  of  the  town  where  the  natives  reside.  In  addi- 
tion to  this,  there  is  an  economy  of  labor  that  should  not 
be  overlooked.  The  floors  are  of  bamboo,  through  which 
the  accumulated  dirt  in  the  dwelling  above  percolates,  thus, 
saving  the  good  housewife  the  work  of  SAveeping.  In  con- 
tradistinction to  these  are  the  elegant  bungalows  of  the 
European  residents.  Gorgeous  in  their  luxury,  surrounded 
by  groves  of  stately  palms,  provided  with  every  appliance 
that  can  make -life  enjoyable,  they  are  a  very  Paradise 
on  earth. 

We  penetrated  nearly  every  nook  and  corner  of  the 
city,  except  the  mosques  and  the  Mohammedan  cemeteries. 
Among  other  places  we  visited  the  celebrated  Pigeon 
Pagoda.  This  overtops  any  thing  in  the  way  of  a  temple 
we  have  seen,  being  eight  stories  in  height.  The  uni- 
versal worship  of  the  pigeon  by  the  Buddhists  is  one  of 
the  many  mysteries  that  we  have  encountered  in  our 
travels  through  the  East.  In  Singapore  I  saw  a  feather 
from  a  pigeon  picked  up  carefully  in  the  street  and  rever- 
ently carried  to  a  shrine.  I  suppose  these  barbarians 
have  some  religious  tradition  connected  with  the  pigeons 
that  leads  them  to  venerate  the  comely  bird. 


164  WHAT  I  SAW, 

The  oue  great  pest  we  encountered  at  Singapore  wao 
the  mosquitoes.  I  will  not  jeopardize  ray  well  established 
reputation  for  veracity  by  telling  the  result  of  a  careful 
estimate  made  of  their  size.  They  are  perhaps  exceeded 
both  in  size  and  ferocity  by  the  tigers,  but  I  am  not  fully 
satisfied  of  the  fact,  as  I  had  a  disastrous  experience  with 
the  mosquitoes,  and  carefully  avoided  an  encounter  with 
the  tigers.  On  shipboard  the  pesky  little  varmints  were  a 
source  of  constant  annoyance,  and  served  to  keep  us  awake 
all  night. 

AVhile  promenading  the  upper  deck,  where  we  had 
been  driven  by  the  sweltering  heat  of  the  cabin,  we  were 
the  involuntary  witnesses  of  a  sorrowful  event  on  a  neigh- 
boring native  junk,  which  illustrates  the  callous-hearted- 
ness  of  the  creatures  who  cumber  this  part  of  the  divine 
footstool.  A  native  sailor  fell  overboard,  and,  despite  his 
agonizing  cries  for  assistance,  not  the  slightest  effort  was 
made  to  rescue  him.  He  doubtless  became  food  for  the 
sharks  which  infest  the  bay,  while  his  companions  pur- 
sued the  evenness  of  their  way  as  if  nothing  unusual  had 
occurred. 

One  feature  of  the  natives  at  Singapore  attracts  the  at- 
tention of  all  travelers.  It  is  the  skill  of  the  boys,  who  are 
true  amphibia,  apparently  more  at  home  in  the  water  than 
on  shore.  These  little  fellows,  ranging  from  six  to  ten 
years  of  age,  will  follow  a  five-cent  piece  thrown  into  the 
water  and  never  fail  to  recover  it  before  it  reaches  the 
bottom.  The  quick  and  skillful  action  of  these  water 
imps  is  surprising.  One  of  them  offered,  if  I  would  give 
him  twenty  cents,  to  dive  under  the  steamer,  which  would 
have  carried  him  down  a  depth  of  twenty-five  feet,  and 
forward  not  less  than  fifty. 

The  shells  and  coral  productions  of  the  waters  in  the 
vicinity  of  Singapore  surpass  in  delicate  beauty  the  most 
florid  conception  of  the  liveliest  imagination.     The  coral, 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  165 

prepared  in  the  vast  manufactory  of  nature,  is  of  the  most 
delicate  texture,  and  of  every  conceivable  shade  of  color, 
much  too  frail,  however,  for  transportation.  If  it  were 
possible  to  convey  the  finest  specimens  to  New  York, 
fortunes  could  be  made  in  the  business.  The  shells  are 
of  the  finest  character,  dazzling  in  their  delicate  tints,  and 
of  every  conceivable  shape.  The  eye  never  wearies  of  ex- 
amining them,  and  the  covetous  nature  never  tires  of 
longing  for  their  possession.  Here  they  are  very  cheap, 
but  the  transportation  and  duty  would  make  them  costly 
at  home.  In  full  proportion  to  these  productions  of  the 
sea  in  the  line  of  beauty  are  the  feathered  tribes  that  fill 
the  groves  in  the  vicinity  of  Singapore.  Noticeable 
among  these  are  the  parrots,  those  birds  of  beautiful 
variegated  plumage,  but  hideous  voice.  The  natives 
brought  loads  of  them  to  the  ship  to  sell.  If  they  had 
not  such  an  infernally  rasping  voice,  a  cross  between  the 
filing  of  a  saw  and  the  bray  of  a  donkey,  they  would  be 
more  desirable  pets.  Those  of  you  who  have  had  your 
nerves  tortured  by  the  screeching  croak  of  these  birds  in 
captivity  can  form  scarcely  a  definite  idea  of  the  effect 
produced  upon  the  ear  by  a  concert  conducted  by  a  thou- 
sand or  two.  Notwithstanding  their  attractive  appearance, 
I  can  not  help  wishing  that  all  the  parrot  heads  were  on 
one  neck,  and  I  had  an  opportunity  to  wring  it. 

As  I  have  before  intimated,  our  opportunities  for  ex- 
ploring the  country  were  much  circumscribed  by  the 
danger  from  tigers.  We  were  very  desirous  of  visiting  a 
nutmeg  plantation,  but  the  only  means  of  conveyance 
available  was  the  bullock  cart.  For  some  reason  the 
tigers  will  not  attack  these  animals.  These  bullocks  have 
an  immense  hump  on  the  shoulders,  and  resemble  much 
the  "  sacred  cows "  that  are  sometimes  exhibited  in  menag- 
eries in  the  States.     So  strong  is  the  resemblance  that  the 


166  WHAT  I  SAW, 


suspicion  has  entered  my  mind  that  Dan  Rice  and  his 
degenerate  followers  basely  imposed  upon  the  unsophisti- 
cated American  people.  If  the  natives  of  the  Malay 
peninsula  consider  the  animals  sacred  they  have  a  very 
unsatisfactory  manner  of  exhibiting  their  veneration.  I 
saw  hundreds  of  them  in  yokes  and  hitched  to  carts,  draw- 
ing immense  loads  through  the  streets  of  Singapore. 

In  one  regard  the  Malays  resemble  the  Chinese  coolies; 
that  is,  in  the  almost  entire  absence  of  clothing.  The 
Malay  driver  of  a  gharry  or  a  bullock  cart  is  clothed  only 
in  an  abbreviated  apron  in  front,  much  after  the  style 
adoped  by  our  fore-parents  when  they  first  introduced  the 
fig-leaf  costume  in  the  Garden  of  Eden.  Their  black  hides 
are  thoroughly  rubbed  with  cocoanut  oil,  and  shine  like 
ebony.  The  women  wear  around  the  waist  a  long  strip 
of  cotton,  the  ends  of  which  are  allowed  to  fall  nearly  to 
the  ground  in  front  and  rear.  They  wear  rings  in  their 
noses  and  ears,  and  bracelets  on  arms  and  ankles.  Both 
sexes  have  regular  and  rather  engaging  features.  Some  of 
the  men  have  a  frontal  development  that  would  indicate 
the  opposite  sex. 

On  the  second  day  of  our  stay  at  Singapore  I  went 
ashore  alone,  and  enjoyed  a  pleasant  ramble  through  the 
city  and  its  environs.  The  troj)ical  Orient  must  be  a  ver- 
itable paradise  for  a  lazy  man.  Here  every  thing  grows 
with  prolific  luxuriance,  requiring  no  cultivation  whatever. 
Nearly  every  human  want  is  supplied  by  bountiful  nature, 
and  the  resident  has  only  to  reach  out  his  hand  to  grasp 
his  food,  and  oftentimes  if  he  will  but  open  his  mouth  the 
fruit  will  drop  into  it.  I  gathered  during  my  walk  speci- 
mens of  the  bread  fruit,  banana,  betel  nut,  etc.,  and  passed 
by  a  greater  variety  and  abundance  than  I  could  cata- 
logue in  a  week.  I  should  think  that  the  Indies  would 
prove  also  a  land  of  pure  delight  to  the  student  of  botany. 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  167 

Unfortunately  my  botanical  education  was  neglected,  but 
still  I  can  fancy  what  a  pleasing  task  would  be  the  exam- 
ination and  classification  of  the  almost  unlimited  floral 
productions  of  this  tropical  land.  Every  thing  here  in 
nature  is  on  a  gigantic  scale.  One  of  the  most  beautiful 
specimens  of  vegetation  which  I  examined  closely  was  a 
fern  fifteen  feet  in  length.  What  an  elegant  parlor  orna- 
ment that  would  make !  So  also  this  would  be  an  inter- 
esting field  of  research  for  the  lover  of  animated  nature. 
The  fauna  includes  a  vast  variety  of  zoological  specimens 
which  are  never  heard  of  in  America,  and  their  classifica- 
tion would  puzzle  the  most  indefatigable  student  of 
Audubon. 

In  my  wanderings  I  met  a  very  intelligent  native  who 
spoke  English  fluently.  Of  him  I  inquired  concerning 
the  mission  work.  In  reply  he  said  it  was  progressing, 
but  the  work  was  engaged  in  more  for  commercial  than 
spiritual  benefit.  This  corresponds  with  the  impressions 
I  received  in  China.  My  conviction  is  that  the  Malays 
present  an  inviting  field  for  missionary  labor.  They  are 
naturally  intelligent,  are  not  bigoted  in  their  present  re- 
ligious belief,  and  would,  I  think,  readily  absorb  the 
teachings  of  Christianity. 

We  remained  but  two  days  at  Singapore,  a  much 
shorter  stay  than  would  have  been  pleasing,  but  the  lapse 
of  time  admonishes  us  that  we  must  be  moving  on.  From 
Singapore  we  sailed  for  Penang,  on  the  west  coast  of  Ma- 
lacca, but  the  incidents  of  the  trip,  our  sojourn  at  that 
place,  and  the  voyage  thence  across  the  Bay  of  Bengal, 
will  furnish  material  for  a  succeeding  letter. 


168  WHAT  I  SAW, 


XV. 


Penaxg  and  the  Bengal  Sea — Among  the  Natives — An  Obtuse 
Driver  who  did  n't  understand  his  Business — The  Need  op 
a  Universal  Language — Malay  Funeral  Procession — Liberal 
Provision  for  the  Dead — Thanksgiving-day  in  the  Tropics — 
Incidents  of  the  Voyage  and  Arrival  in  Ceylon. 

Point  De  Galle,  Ceylon,  ISovetnber  28,  1881. 

We  sailed  from  Singapore  at  four  o'clock  on  the  after- 
noon of  the  21st  for  Penang,  and  thence  westward  across 
the  Bay  of  Bengal  to  the  place  from  which  I  write.  In 
the  late  and  comparatively  cool  hours  of  the  afternoon  we 
enjoyed  much  the  view  of  the  island  of  Sumatra,  close  to 
the  shores  of  which  we  passed,  Avith  the  INIalay  peninsula 
on  the  right.  The  strait  between  is  about  seven  miles 
wide,  so  that  at  no  time  until  we  had  left  Sumatra  behind 
were  we  out  of  sight  of  land.  The  comparison  between 
the  landscape  view  of  Sumatra  and  that  of  the  main-land 
is  marked.  The  former  presents  a  succession  of  elevated 
hills,  clad  to  their  summits  with  dense  foliage,  a  panorama 
of  deep  green  which  the  eye  never  wearies  of  resting 
upon.  The  main-land,  on  the  contrary,  is  a  vast  plain, 
covered  by  a  seemingly  impenetrable  jungle,  the  home  of 
the  wild  elephant,  the  tiger,  immense  serpents,  and  other 
varmints  whose  intimate  acquaintance  we  do  not  seek. 

On  some  maps  the  port  of  Penang  is  called  George- 
town, but  this  endeavor  of  our  British  cousins  to  Anglicize 
the  East  Indian  names  has  not  usually  been  successful, 
and  the  place  is  best  known  as  Penang.     AYe  reached  the 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  169 

port  at  an  early  hour  in  the  morning,  and,  as  our  stay  was 
limited,  little  time  was  lost  in  preparations  for  viewing 
such  wonders  a^  were  in  store  for  us.  We  procured  one 
of  those  unique  vehicles  described  in  my  last,  and  soon 
were  bowling  along  over  as  fine  a  road  as  there  is  in  the 
world — a  smooth  and  level  highway  that  would  cause  an 
Ohio  farmer  to  turn  green  with  envy. 

"VVe  were  surprised  at  the  extent  of  the  city.  We  had 
in  some  mysterious  way  been  led  to  suppose  that  it  was  a 
large  place  of  considerable  importance,  commercial  and 
otherwise.  It  is,  however,  a  diminutive  affair  compared 
with  the  other  cities  we  have  visited,  having,  I  should 
judge,  not  to  exceed  ten  thousand  inhabitants.  Nor  does 
it  present  any  of  the  evidences  of  activity  or  progress  that 
distinguish  Singapore.  If  Penang  ever  was  a  flourishing 
city,  its  days  of  prosperity  are  evidently  past.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  however,  the  evidences  of  lethargy  and  inaction 
were  a  positive  relief  after  days  spent  amidst  the  ever- 
lasting hurry  and  ceaseless  activity  of  Hong  Kong  and 
Singapore. 

Being  desirous  of  studying  as  thoroughly  as  the  limited 
time  at  our  disposal  would  allow,  the  productions  of  the 
country,  we  found  opportunity  much  more  availabe  than 
at  Singapore.  There  is  not  the  same  danger  from  blood- 
thirsty wild  animals  that  teaches  visitors  to  the  former 
place  the  caution  born  of  that  first  law  of  nature,  self- 
preservation.  Our  first  visit  was  to  a  nutmeg  plantation. 
In  our  younger  days,  while  we  watched  wnth  eager  eyes 
and  more  eager  stomachs  our  good  mothers  sprinkle  this 
aromatic  condiment  over  the  luscious  custards,  and  in 
after  years,  when  the  same  substance  was  made  to  add 
flavor  to  an  exhilarating  decoction  mainly  composed  of 
warm  water  and  sugar,  we  have  wondered  what  were  its 
original  surroundings.     A  ride  of  a  short  distance  brought 


170  WHAT  1  SAW, 

us  to  a  plantation.  The  fruit  grows  upon  a  tree  not  un- 
like the  young  hickory  tree  of  the  second  growth,  and  is 
of  an  appearance  resembling  the  hickory-nut,  being  en- 
cased in  a  thick  but  easily  removed  shell.  Having  solved 
the  nutmeg  problem  to  our  satisfaction,  we  next  essayed  a 
visit  to  a  pepper  grove.  But  our  Malay  Jehu,  in  the  per- 
versity of  his  barbarism,  could  not  be  made  to  understand 
our  desires.  In  the  midst  of  our  disappointment,  when 
the  temptation  to  emphatic  language  would  have  been 
stronger  if  there  had  been  the  slightest  possibility  of  the 
nude  and  grinning  native  comprehending  it,  avc  envied 
Baron  Humboldt  the  satisfaction  he  derived  from  being 
able  to  converse  with  nearly  every  person  he  met  in  his 
travels.  For  the  convenience  of  most  travelers  there 
should  be  formulated  a  universal,  if  limited,  dialect,  in 
which  a  man  could  at  least  swear  intelligibly.  I  do  not 
know  from  experience,  but  have  been  told  that  profanity 
acts  as  a  relief  to  a  man's  feelings,  even  though  it  does 
burden  his  conscience.  But  what  satisfaction  could  there 
be  in  anathematizing  a  beastly  Malay,  who  would  grin  in 
your  face,  and  probably  think  you  were  praising  his  effi- 
ciency as  a  driver  and  guide. 

Well,  we  didn't  see  the  pepper  grove.  We  found 
much  consolation,  however,  in  loitering  along  the  roads 
and  examining  the  myriads  of  varieties  of  fruits,  hundreds 
of  which  we  had  never  heard  of  before.  The  most  florid 
picture  which  pen  has  ever  drawn  of  the  luxuriance  and 
variety  of  vegetation  in  the  tropics  has  failed  to  do  the 
subject  half  justice.  On  every  hand,  rising  scores  of  feet 
above  your  heads,  are  the  stately  palms;  beneath,  a  dense 
mass  of  beautiful  trees  and  shrubbery,  of  unknown  names 
and  undreamed  of  luxuriance  and  beauty.  Under  your 
feet  a  carpet  of  moss  and  flowers,  more  beautiful  and  more 
variegated   in  design  than  ever  came  from  the  weaver's 


AND  SO  W  I  SA  W  IT,  171 

loom.  There  is,  however,  never  a  sweet  without  a  bitter, 
and  these  groves  are  filled  with  wild  animals  whose  very 
names  strike  terror  to  timid  breasts,  and  within  the  meshes 
of  the  beautiful  carpet  lurk  hideous  insects  whose  touch 
is  death. 

The  clothing  of  the  residents  of  Penang  consists  largely 
of  cheap  jewelry.  The  women  wear  rings  in  their  ears, 
pendent  from  their  noses,  covering  their  arms,  fingers, 
ankles,  and  toes,  and  doubtless  wish  they  had  unlimited 
additions  to  their  anatomical  development,  so  that  they 
could  display  more  rings.  We  saw  hundreds  of  little  ones 
as  devoid  of  clothing  as  when  they  made  their  advent 
into  the  world,  whose  arms,  legs,  toes,  and  fingers  were 
literally  covered  with  rings.  All  are  nearly  black,  with 
hides  shining  like  polished  ebony,  the  result  of  persistent 
rubbing  with  cocoa-nut  oil.  While  their  personal  habits 
are  not  such  as  civilized  people  would  care  to  introduce 
into  their  drawing-rooms,  yet  they  are  a  quiet,  peaceable 
people,  frank,  outspoken,  and  obliging ;  industrious,  to  a 
limited  extent ;  and  presenting  few  of  the  disgusting  traits 
which  have  given  the  Chinese  such  an  unenviable  reputa- 
tion in  all  parts  of  the  world  where  they  have  intruded 
their  unwelcome  presence.  These  latter,  of  course,  abound 
at  PenaDg,  and  will  finally,  I  predict,  drive  out  the  natives. 
The  insinuating  persistency  of  the  Chinaman  is  one  of  his 
many  national  characteristics,  and  it  may  be  that  he  will 
finally  overrun  the  balance  of  the  world  as,  some  years 
since,  the  frogs  overran  Egypt,  and  for  a  similar  reason,  as 
a  curse  upon  humanity. 

During  our  stay  in  Penang,  we  witnessed  a  native 
funeral.  Our  attention  was  first  attracted  by  a  hubbub  in 
the  street,  which  created  the  impression  at  once  that  a  riot 
was  in  progress,  or  a  revolution  well  under  way.     A  close 


172  WHAT  I  SAW, 


inspection,  however,  indicated  a  funeral  procession.  In 
front  was  the  coffin,  followed  by  many  tables,  each  Ijearing 
a  roast  pig  and  goat.  The  mourning,  as  is  common 
among  the  people  of  all  Eastern  nations,  was  conducted  in 
the  most  boisterous  manner,  probal)ly  for  the  purpose  of 
frightening  away  evil  spirits.  Barbarians  of  every  race 
have  a  horror  of  evil  spirits,  and,  in  return,  they  seem  to 
think  evil  spirits  have  an  equal  horror  of  noise.  It  must 
be  an  evil  spirit  indeed  that  can  withstand  the  hideous 
din  attending  a  Malay  funeral.  The  individual  who,  on 
this  particular  occasion,  was  being  cared  for  must  have 
been  either  normally  hungry  or  else  the  journey  before 
him  was  a  long  one.  We  counted  eight  large  hogs  and 
six  goats  in  the  rations  which  had  been  provided  for  him. 
Now,  it  is  a  question  in  my  mind — and  a  reasonable  one, 
too — what  becomes  of  all  these  eatables  that  the  natives, 
in  the  innocence  of  their  unquestioning  faith,  lay  upon  the 
graves  of  their  dead  or  oiFer  at  the  shrines  of  their  gods 
in  the  temples?  The  poor  creatures  are  undoubtedly 
sincere  in  their  actions,  and  think  that  the  spirits  of  the 
dead  or  the  inanimate  gods,  as  the  case  may  be,  feast  upon 
the  luxuries  which  they  provide  for  them.  It  would  seem 
that  the  deception  is  so  transparent  that  the  most  thor- 
oughly beclouded  mind  could  see  through  it.  But  I  sup- 
pose they  are  like  some  people  in  civilized  countries : 
they  will  not  see  the  error  of  their  ways,  even  when  it  is 
made  as  palpable  as  their  eyes  themselves. 

At  Penang  we  saw  the  animal  known  as  the  "  elephant 
cow,"  a  creature  formed  much  like  its  namesake  and  quite 
large,  weighing  usually  about  2,200  pounds.  They  are 
used  as  motive  power  for  the  native  carts. 

Finally,  after  improving  every  moment  of  our  time, 
and  learning  something  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  country 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  173 

and  its  people,  we  steamed  out  of  the  harbor,  rounded  the 
northern  end  of  Sumatra,  and  thence  bore  due  west  across 
the  Bay  of  Bengal  to  the  island  of  Ceylon. 

Sea  voyages  are  usually  very  monotonous,  and  our  pas- 
sage from  Penang  would  have  been  no  exception  to  the 
rule  had  it  not  been  for  a  scene  we  witnessed  on  the 
second  day.  We  had  read  many  stories  of  the  sea-serpent, 
and  had  consistently  followed  the  usual  course  and  credited 
the  yarns  to  the  lively  imagination  of  the  sea-going  origi- 
nators. We  are  now  prepared,  however,  to  revise  all 
such  hasty  conclusions,  because  our  eyes  have  looked  upon 
a  veritable  sea-serpent.  The  announcement  of  its  jDres- 
ence  caused  quite  a  commotion  on  board,  leading  all  to 
the  side  of  the  vessel.  Sure  enough,  there  it  was,  not  two 
hundred  yards  from  the  ship,  skimming  along,  with  its 
head  raised  several  feet  above  the  surface,  and  apparently 
careless  of  the  proximity  of  we  "  lords  of  creation."  Its 
neck  and  so  much  of  the  body  as  was  exposed  above  the 
water,  seemed  to  be  about  eight  inches  in  diameter.  We 
had  no  opportunity  to  even  estimate  its  entire  length. 
This  was  not  a  very  big  sea-serjjent,  but  probably  a 
younger  member  of  the  family  out  for  a  little  time  by 
itself 

During  the  passage,  we  experienced  the  most  terrific 
thunder-storm  in  our  record,  or  that  we  ever  care  to  ex- 
perience, for  that  matter.  Flash  blended  with  flash  of  the 
most  vivid  character,  and  peal  mingled  with  peal  of  thun- 
der that  seemed  to  make  the  very  ocean  beneath  us  trem- 
ble. The  rain  fell,  not  in  drops  or  sheets,  but  in  seemingly 
great  masses  of  solid  water.  The  sea  remained  perfectly 
calm,  and  appeared  to  smile  at  the  efforts  of  the  upper 
elements  to  create  a  serious  disturbance  without  its  aid. 

November  24th  was  Thanksgiving-day  at  home,  Avhen 
old  friends  and  neighbors  gathered  about  the  family  board 


174  WHAT  I  SAW, 

to  mingle  thanks  to  Providence  with  the  partaking  of 
good  cheer.  While  we  wandering  Buckeyes  had  no  less 
cause  to  be  thankful,  the  day  was  spent  in  a  manner  dif- 
ferent from  the  way  in  which  it  was  observed  at  home. 
While  our  friends  were  devoting  the  fleeting  hours  to 
social  intercourse  we  were  passing  the  northern  end  of  the 
island  of  Sumatra.  As  we  gazed  upon  the  rapidly  dis- 
appearing land,  clothed  in  all  the  luxuriant  verdure  of  the 
tropics,  our  minds  traveled  far  away  until  they  rested 
amid  the  familiar  scenes  of  home.  We  pictured  the  many 
happy  firesides  where  we  were  wont  to  be  welcome  guests, 
and  wondered  if,  in  the  midst  of  the  social  entertainments 
of  the  day,  a  thought  ever  went  out  to  the  wanderers  at 
the  antipodes,  who,  though  enjoying  the  many  novelties 
of  their  surroundings,  find  time  to  remember  that  no  spot 
has  attractions  equal  to  home. 

At  the  north  end  of  Sumatra  is  Gold  Mountain,  said 
to  be  ten  thousand  feet  high.  It  is  the  last  point  of  land 
previous  to  sighting  the  island  of  Ceylon,  and  for  hours 
after  the  shore  line  had  disappeared  from  view  its  massive 
shape  loomed  up^  to  the  sky,  finally,  however,  becoming 
hazy  and  indistinct  in  the  distance,  and  disappeared  at 
last  in  a  bank  of  clouds. 

The  brief  voyage  from  Penang  to  this  port  was  im- 
pressed chiefly  u^^on  our  minds  by  the  intense  heat. 
Toothing  the  people  of  the  States  experience  is  to  be  com- 
pared with  it.  At  home  there  is  an  occasional  surcease 
from  the  torridity ;  at  times  a  cooling  breeze  gives  relief. 
In  the  tropics  the  heat  is  continuous — a  melting,  broiling, 
nerve-destroying  concentration  of  discomfort,  which  can 
not  be  enjoyed,  but  must  be  endured.  On  last  Thanks- 
giving-day I  drove  sixteen  miles  over  snow  ten  to  twelve 
inches  in  depth.  Oh,  how  I  longed  for  one  draught  of 
the  bracing  air  which  then  seemed  too  cold. 


AND  now  1  SAW  IT.  175 

With  plenty  of  leisure  we  regaled  ourselves  with  spec- 
ulations upon  the  improbable,  and  our  fancy  pictured  the 
home  Hunting  Club,  in  all  the  panoply  of  dogs  and 
breech-loading  shotguns  in  the  jungles  of  Sumatra  hunt- 
ing tigers  or  being  hunted  by  them,  as  the  animals  might 
select.  The  climax  of  absurdity  was  reached,  however, 
when  our  fertile  imaginations  drew  the  picture  of  one  dis- 
tinguished Nimrod  beating  the  bush  for  a  tiger  and  finding 
it  all  too  soon. 

We  passed  within  sight  of  the  island  of  Sumatra  for  a 
distance  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  As  T  have  said, 
it  is  quite  mountainous  and  inhabited  mainly  by  wild  ani- 
mals of  a  character  unsuited  to  intimate  acquaintance, 
which  share  the  glories  of  the  tropical  clime  with  equally 
wild  natives.  These  latter  are  known  as  Atchinese,  and 
since  a  time  almost  when  history  records  nothing  to  the 
contrary,  they  have  waged  a  defensive  warfare  against  the 
Dutch  occupants  of  the  island. 

The  specimens  of  fruits  which  I  have  accumulated 
during  our  brief  wandering  would  tempt  the  appetite  of 
an  anchorite.  As  I  write  there  are  spread  before  me  on 
the  table  pineapples,  oranges,  bananas,  mangosteens,  cocoa- 
nuts,  bread  fruit,  betel  nuts,  and  a  myriad  of  others  whose 
names  I  do  not  know.  The  nutmeg  is  the  most  hand- 
some, and,  by  its  peculiar  formation,  presents  the  most  in- 
teresting study.  In  appearance  when  gathered  it  re- 
sembles a  hickory  nut.  The  outer  coating  or  shell  opens 
in  quarters,  and  discloses  a  red  lining,  the  mace  of  com- 
merce ;  beneath  that  is  the  nut  proper,  which  in  its  fresh 
state  resembles  but  little  the  article  as  it  reaches  the  con- 
sumer. The  betel  nut  is  the  product  of  a  species  of  palm 
tree.  It  is  much  favored  by  the  natives,  who  chew  it 
persistently,  producing  a  discoloration  of  the  lips  and 
teeth  which  gives  rise,  upon   first  view,  to  the  suspicion 


176  WHAT  I  SAW, 

that  the  consumer  has  been  engaged  in  a  muscular  contro- 
versy and  got  the  worst  of  the  argument. 

Our  route  across  the  Bay  of  Bengal  was  along  the 
fifth  degree  of  north  latitude,  or  about  three  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  north  of  the  equator.  Wc  have  not  crossed, 
and  will  not  during  our  travels  cross,  the  line.  At  Singa- 
pore we  were  within  half  a  hundred  miles  of  it — near 
enough,  as  the  Irishman  remarked,  for  all  practical 
purposes. 

We  reached  this  point  on  the  27th,  eight  days  ahead 
of  time,  and  nearly  as  far  from  home  as  it  is  possible  for 
human  beings  to  get.  We  have  been  peculiarly  fortunate. 
During  the  entire  voyage  of  more  than  ten  thousand  miles, 
we  have  encountered  none  of  the  "  dangers  of  the  deep." 
With  the  exception  of  a  slight  meteorological  disturbance 
on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  our  travels  have  been  as  pleasant  as 
a  steamboat  trip  on  the  Mississippi,  and  seemingly  as  safe. 
The  Pacific  well  sustained  its  reputation,  and  the  China 
Sea  and  Indian  Ocean,  perhaps  feeling  the  precious  nature 
of  their  burden,  have  been  as  kind,  considerate  and  sooth- 
ing as  a  loving  mother.  We  read  of  the  terrific  storms 
that  periodically  sweep  over  these  seas,  but  have  experi- 
enced none  of  them.  Neither  of  us  has  been  sick  an 
hour,  and  the  plethoric  chest  of  medicines  we  supplied 
ourselves  Avith  before  starting  has  never  been  opened. 

It  will  be  two  weeks  before  we  can  secure  passage  to 
Calcutta.  The  time,  however,  will  doubtless  be  spent 
very  pleasantly,  as  Ceylon  is  prolific  of  sights  and  tradi- 
tions to  interest  the  traveler.  We  have  arranged,  so  far 
as  possible,  to  sail  from  Bombay  for  Egypt  on  January 
14th,  so  as  to  reach  Cairo,  and  leave  for  the  trip  up  the 
Nile  February  5th,  instead  of  10th,  as  originally  contem- 
plated. This  will  give  us  thirty  days  in  which  to  "do" 
India. 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  177 

Our  impressions  of  Ceylon  are  not  as  yet  crystallized 
into  shape,  but  I  hope,  after  our  return  from  Columbo 
and  Kandy,  where  most  of  our  fortnight  on  the  island 
will  be  spent,  to  have  something  to  say  which  will  interest 
my  readers. 

12 


178  WHAT  I  SAW, 


XVI. 

Ceylon  and  the  Cingalese — Historical  Sketch  op  the  Island — 
Its  People  —  Natural  Productions  —  A  Veritable  Earthly 
Paradise — Incidents  of  a  Sojourn. 

Point  De  Galle,  Ceylon,  December  5,  1881. 

Since  the  date  of  my  last  letter,  we  have  had  many 
experiences,  all  pleasant.  We  have  roamed  over  a  large 
part  of  this  earthly  paradise;  have  driven  a  distance  of 
seventy  miles  and  return,  over  what  is  said  to  be  the 
finest  and  most  picturesque  road  in  the  world ;  have  visited 
Colombo,  Kandy,  and  other  points  of  interest,  and  have 
secured  more  positive  enjoyment  than  was  to  be  obtained 
in  any  other  country  which  we  have  visited.  This  sultry 
Sunday  afternoon,  when  we  are  incapacitated  by  the  ex- 
treme heat  for  physical  exertion,  and  are  surfeited  with 
sight-seeing,  I  have  seated  myself  in  my  room  at  the 
hotel,  hoping  that  the  small  amount  of  energy  which  I 
have  been  able  to  retain  will  be  sufficient  to  carry  my 
pencil  through  a  brief  and  necessarily  incomplete  account 
of  what  we  have  seen  and  how  we  saw  it. 

Ceylon  has  long  been  known  to  Europe,  so  long,  in  fact, 
that  it  bears  a  more  or  less  prominent  part  in  ancient  his- 
tory. The  first  accounts  of  the  island  were  received  from  two 
of  the  commanders  of  the  fleet  dispatched  by  Alexander  the 
Great.  A  description  of  the  island  may  be  found  in  the 
works  of  ancient  authors ;  both  Pliny  and  Ptolemeus  have 
left  accounts  of  its  character  and  condition.  Tradition, 
rather  than  history,  tells  us  that  the  Persians  had  formed 


AND  HO W  I  SAW  IT.  1 79 

a  Christian  establishment  on  the  coast  before  the  sixth 
century ;  and  in  the  thirteenth  Marco  Polo,  the  venture- 
some Portuguese  who  devoted  nine-tenths  of  a  long  life  to 
visiting  countries  that  nobody  had  ever  heard  of,  and  the 
other  tenth  to  telling  stories  that  nobody  believed,  so- 
journed for  a  period  in  Ceylon.  His  description  of  the 
beauties  of  the  island  were  glowing,  and  though  at  that 
time  they  were  considered  the  exaggerations  of  a  fevered 
imagination,  subsequent  investigation  proved  them  not 
overdrawn.  Sir  John  Mandeville,  an  eminent  English 
traveler,  visited  Ceylon  about  fifty  years  afterward,  and 
found  much  to  indorse  in  the  florid  description  of  his  pred- 
ecessor. The  Portuguese  were  the  first  to  firmly  estab- 
lish themselves  in  the  country.  Early  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  after  having  discovered  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
they  pushed  forward  toward  India.  Arriving  at  Ceylon, 
they  found  the  natives  engaged  in  civil  war,  and  by  offer- 
ing themselves  as  mediators  they  succeeded  in  gaining  a 
permanent  lodgment.  In  1520  strong  fortifications  were 
erected  at  Colombo.  Subsequently  the  natives  revolted, 
and,  aided  by  the  Dutch,  the  hereditary  enemies  of  the 
Portuguese,  succeeded,  after  a  war  lasting  twenty  years, 
in  defeating  their  opponents,  but  it  was  not  until  1656 
that  the  Portuguese  were  finally  expelled  from  the  island. 
The  subsequent  history  of  Ceylon  is  varied.  During  the 
wars  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  French  ob- 
tained a  lodgment  on  the  island,  but  they  were  ejected  by  the 
British,  who  in  turn  were  forced  to  give  way  to  the  Dutch, 
who  continued  to  hold  it  until  it  was  wrested  from  them 
by  the  English  in  1796.  At  that  time  the  European  do- 
minion did  not  extend  over  the  whole  island,  and  it  was 
not  until  1815  that  the  British,  in  the  manner  peculiar  to 
their  policy,  formally  took  possession  of  the  entire  territory, 
which  they  have  since  retained.     There  can  be  no  doubt 


180  WHAT  I  SAW, 

that  the  English  protectorate  has  been  a  blessing  to  the 
country.  In  every  material  regard  it  has  progressed,  and 
the  many  elements  of  civilization  to  be  met  on  every 
hand  are  as  surprising  as  they  are  gratifying  to  the  trav- 
eler. In  the  towns  and  larger  villages,  where  the  influ- 
ences of  civilization  are  felt,  schools  have  been  established, 
and  are  well  patronized.  In  these  the  English  language 
is  taught,  and  it  was  rare  in  our  tour  to  find  any  persons 
who  could  not  speak  a  little  English.  Of  course,  in  some 
parts  of  the  island  it  is  different.  But  everywhere  there 
is  peaceful  quietness,  the  natives  being  in  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  the  luxurious  ease  wjiich  can  be  found  nowhere 
outside  the  tropics. 

In  the  early  years,  before  the  occupation  of  the  island  by 
the  Europeans,  Ceylon  was  one  of  the  richest  and  most 
productive  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  Orient.  The  natives,  at 
a  very  early  period,  showed  great  skill  in  the  development 
of  the  natural  resources,  and  increased  the  fertility  of  the 
soil  by  ingenious  modes  of  artificial  irrigation,  and  there 
yet  remain  numerous  vestiges  of  extensive  works,  in  the 
form  of  immense  basins  used  for  collecting  the  water  dur- 
ing  the  hea\'y  but  periodical  falls  of  rain.  Authentic 
history  does  not  record  the  construction  of  these  immense 
tanks,  and  their  continued  preservation  is  a  monument  to 
the  skill  and  active  industry  of  the  natives. 

Although  we  have  suifered  much  from  the  heat  during 
our  sojourn  here,  we  have  been  given  to  understand  that 
the  present  warmness  is  exceptional,  and  that  the  temper- 
ature does  not  often  rise  above  ninety  degrees  for  more 
than  a  few  hours  at  a  time.  There  is  a  ffreat  difference 
in  the  climate  between  the  northern  and  southern  parts  of 
the  island,  and  a  curious  effect  results;  for  on  one  side  of 
a  mountain,  while  the  rain  is  falling  copiously,  on  the 
other   the   crops   are    suffering    from    the    severe    drought. 


AND  HOW  1  SAW  IT.  181 

This  is  caused  by  the  sea  breezes.  The  climate  is  com- 
paratively healthy,  and  it  is  said  the  death-rate  does  not 
exceed  three  per  cent.  The  country  is  not  often  subject 
to  epidemics  and  in  this  regard  is  fortunately  unlike  the 
contiguous  main-land  of  India.  With  all  its  natural  ad- 
vantages, however,  the  island  at  present  is  not  as  flourish- 
ing as  might  be  expected.  The  productiveness  of  the  soil 
is  almost  unlimited,  yet  the  exports  are  not  great.  Labor 
may  be  obtained,  too,  for  twelve  cents  a  day,  and  yet  the 
agricultural  districts  are  not  as  flourishing  as  they  should 
be.  The  same  deficiency  is  encountered  in  every  tropical 
land.  The  very  fact  that  the  soil  is  so  prolific,  that  the 
means  of  luxurious  subsistence  is  provided  by  bountiful 
nature  without  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the  people,  seems — 
and  perhaps  naturally — to  deprive  the  human  animal  of 
every  willingness  for  exertion.  They  reasonaljly  feel  that 
the  most  pleasure  in  existence  can  be  found  in  the  least 
exertion,  and  the  theory  is  almost  universally  applied.  I 
can  only  say  that  I  envy  them  their  luxurious  ease,  where 
the  only  necessary  effort  is  that  of  breathing.  The  princi- 
pal diet  is  fish,  rice,  and  cocoanuts. 

Of  the  productions  of  the  island,  the  cocoanut  is  prob- 
ably the  most  valuable  to  the  natives.  Everywhere  in 
Ceylon,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  extensive  forests  of 
the  tree  are  to  be  seen,  and  the  numerous  excellent  roads 
throughout  the  country  are  bordered  with  it.  The  cocoa- 
nut  palm  has  a  great  variety  of  uses.  The  green  nut,  with 
its  delicate,  all^uminous  fruit  and  refreshing  milk,  is  an 
article  of  food  very  nutritious  and  not  to  be  despised  by 
the  palates  of  epicures.  When  ripe,  the  kernel  of  the 
nut  is  dried,  forming  what  the  natives  term  copperal,  and 
an  oil  of  value  is  expressed  from  it,  the  residuum  forming 
an  excellent  food  for  the  fattening  of  animals.  Even  th-e 
husk   of  the   nut   is   utilized,   being   manufactured   into  a 


182  WHA  T  I  SA  W, 

kind  of  rope,  large  quantities  of  which  are  exported.  The 
shells  are  formed  into  a  variety  of  articles  useful  in  the 
household  economy.  Even  the  tree  has  its  uses.  From 
its  sap  fluid  is  obtained  which  the  natives  call  "  toddy," 
and  which,  after  distillation,  becomes  arrack,  a  species  of 
liquor  which  through  the  East  Indies  serves  as  a  substi- 
tute for  whisky.  I  understand  that  it  is  eminently  suc- 
cessful in  producing  the  desired  effect,  but  I  saw  no  evi- 
dence of  it  being  used  to  excess.  The  other  staples  of 
Ceylon  are  cinnamon,  coffee,  sugar,  rice,  arica  nut,  pre- 
cious stones,  plumbago,  and  other  vegetables  and  animal 
productions.  The  pearl  fisheries,  which  years  since  were 
very  remunerative  and  famous,  have  declined  greatly,  and 
are  no  longer  the  source  of  revenue  that  formerly  distin- 
guished them.  Various  reasons  for  this  are  assigned,  one 
of  which  is  that  the  pearl  oyster  has  migrated.  The  most 
plausible  reason,  however,  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the 
fisheries  were  overworked,  and  that  the  mollusks  were 
frequently  destroyed  before  the  pearl  matured.  This,  of 
course,  proved  disastrous  to  the  trade.  Pearl  diving  is 
still,  however,  followed  by  many  of  the  natives,  and  some 
of  them  find  it  quite  remunerative. 

Ceylon  abounds  in  rich  vegetation  and  many  trees  of 
vigorous  growth,  among  which,  in  addition  to  the  various 
species  of  palm,  there  is  the  kittal  tree,  from  the  sap  of 
which  is  produced  a  kind  of  coarse  sugar,  and  from  its 
fruit,  when  dried  and  reduced  to  powder,  a  substitute  for 
rice  flour.  The  talepot,  with  its  luxuriant  foliage,  is  one 
of  the  wonders  of  the  island ;  a  single  leaf  of  this  tree  is 
sufficient  to  cover  beneath  its  shade  several  persons,  and 
it  supplies,  when  softened  by  boiling  and  afterward  pressed 
and  dried,  a  substitute  for  paper,  upon  which  the  natives 
were  formerly  in  the  habit  of  writing.  It  is,  I  believe, 
still  used  to  some  extent,  but  not  so  generally  as  before 


AND  HOW  1  SAW  IT.  183 

the  supplies  of  the  genuine  article  became  so  ample. 
The  cinnamon,  with  its  beautiful  white  blossoms  and  red- 
tipped  leaves,  gives  a  pleasing  variety  to  the  prevailing 
green  tint  of  vegetation,  but  the  stories  of  the  fragrance 
exhaled  by  these  trees  and  plants,  which  some  writers 
describe  as  sensible  at  a  distance  from  land,  are  a  gross 
exaggeration.  In  truth,  we  have  had  occasion  to  note 
during  our  travels  through  the  East  the  prevailing  lack  of 
fragrance  among  the  flowers.  Many  of  the  most  beautiful 
specimens  of  nature's  art  are  wholly  barren  of  perfume. 
Rich  woods  of  various  kinds,  such  as  ebony,  rose,  satin, 
and  lime,  grow  in  abundance  on  the  island. 

Ceylon,  like  other  tropical  countries,  is  infested  Avith  a 
variety  of  wild  animals,  of  a  character  calculated  to  beget 
caution  on  the  part  of  travelers.  Those  deep,  dark  jun- 
gles, whose  beauty  entrances  the  eye,  hide  in  their  depths 
myriads  of  elephants,  hyenas,  tiger-cats,  bears  and  reptiles 
of  great  variety.  The  number  of  elephants  is  surprising. 
So  plenty  are  they,  and  so  destructive  to  the  plantations 
that  the  government  formerly  paid  a  reward  of  about  two 
dollars  for  each  elephantine  tail.  Why  they  should  desig- 
nate the  tail  I  do  not  know,  unless  it  is  for  the  same 
reason  that,  under  similar  circumstances,  a  reward  would 
be  paid  for  the  caudal  appendage  of  a  mule,  assured  that 
the  animal  must  be  dead  before  the  tail  could  be  secured. 
This  policy  of  the  government  has,  I  understand,  been 
changed,  and  now  hunters  are  required  to  pay  for  the 
privilege  of  killing  them. 

Naturalists  tell  us  that  there  are  but  twenty  varieties 
of  serpents,  four  only  of  which  are  venomous,  the  cobra 
and  tic  prolango  being  the  most  deadly.  We  have  seen 
none  except  in  the  hands  of  the  snake  charmers,  and  it  is 
probably  unnecessary  to  add  that  we  have  no  desire  to. 
The  last  mentioned  variety  is  credited  with  a  vast  deal  of 


184  WHAT  I  SAW, 

cunning,  it  being  said  that  it  will  await  in  concealment 
the  approach  of  a  traveler  and  without  warning  sink  its 
horrid  fangs  into  his  flesh,  the  slightest  touch  of  which  is 
swift  and  certain  death. 

The  Christian  religion  was  introduced  at  a  very  early- 
period  into  Ceylon.  Tradition  says  that  the  Apostle 
Thomas  preached  here.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  the  Nestorians  accompanied  the  Persians  here  as 
early  as  the  fifth  century,  and  made  many  converts.  The 
religion  seems,  however,  to  have  died  out,  as,  upon  the 
arrival  of  the  Portuguese  no  remnants  of  Christian  wor- 
ship remained.  Here  as  in  Japan,  we  are  indebted  to 
Francis  Xavier  for  the  permanent  establishment  of  Chris- 
tianity. This  zealous  propagandist  followed  the  Portu- 
guese, and  the  result  of  his  earnest  and  effective  work  is 
found  in  the  fact  that  a  large  percentage  of  the  Christian 
natives  are  Roman  Catholics.  Were  I  so  disposed,  I  could 
assign  Avhat  I  consider  a  valid  reason  for  this,  outside  of 
the  early  work  of  the  Catholic  proselyters.  The  Church 
of  England  is,  of  course,  sustained  in  accord  with  the  be- 
lief of  the  British  authorities.  There  are  missionaries  of 
all  the  different  sects  engaged  in  the  endeavor  to  evan- 
gelize the  natives,  but  with  what  success  does  not  appear, 
as  apostasy  is  so  frequent  among  the  people  as  to  be  al- 
most the  rule.  The  predominant  religion  among  the  na- 
tives is  Buddhist.  There  are  numerous  Buddhist  temples 
in  the  island,  some  of  which  preserve  an  impressive  aspect. 
There  is  one  of  great  antiquity,  and  so  much  venerated 
as  to  attract  visitors  from  various  parts  of  India.  We 
were  surfeited  with  temples  in  Japan,  and  this  one  had 
no  charms  for  us. 

The  population  of  Ceylon  is  estimated  at  one  million 
five  hundred  thousand,  of  whom  about  five  thousand  are 
white.      The   inhabitants    are    composed   of  the    natives. 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  185 

termed  Cingalese,  and  a  small  proportion  of  Europeans, 
principally  government  officials  and  tradesmen  and  their 
families.  Added  to  these  are  Malays,  and,  of  course,  the 
omnipresent  Chinese.  The  Cingalese  are  less  ugly  in 
appearance  than  was  expected,  many  of  them,  in  fact, 
having  expressive  and  even  handsome  features,  and  their 
forms  arc  not  without  symmetry.  They  seem  to  be  amia- 
ble in  disposition,  as  industrious  as  their  circumstances 
require,  and  faithful  to  their  obligations.  The  dress  of 
the  lower  and  middle  classes  is  a  little  nearer  the  bounds 
of  indecency  than  would  be  permitted  in  the  States.  They 
wear  a  single  garment  only,  composed  of  colored  cotton 
cloth.  This  is  wrapped  around  the  waist,  the  ends  falling 
in  front  and  rear,  forming  a  sort  of  skirt.  From  the 
waist  upward  nothing  is  worn.  When  alone  and  pro- 
tected from  the  gaze  of  the  general  public,  the  skirts  of 
the  garment  named,  instead  of  being  allowed  to  fall  around 
the  limbs,  are  gathered  up  and  wrapped  in  turban  shape 
about  the  head.  The  effect  is  very  picturesque,  and  it  has 
an  advantage  in  enabling  the  stranger  to  distinguish  the 
sex  without  difficulty,  which  is  often  impossible  when  the 
garment  is  worn  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  the  not 
very  strict  rules  of  society.  Some  of  the  aborigines,  who 
live  in  the  forest  fastnesses,  confine  themselves  in  dress  to 
the  simple  wardrobe  of  nature.  The  men  allow  their  hair 
to  grow  to  a  great  length,  which  they  foster  with  much 
care,  and  fasten  in  a  coil  at  the  tops  of  their  heads  with 
large  tortoise-shell  combs,  such  as  our  ladies  at  home 
might  not  be  ashamed  to  wear. 

In  addition  to  the  Cingalese,  who  are  doubtless  de- 
scendants of  the  aborigines  of  the  island,  there  are  the 
Malabars,  whom  tradition  traces  to  the  shores  of  India, 
and  whose  religion  and  social  characteristics  would  seem 
to  connect  them  with   that   country.     They  are  Hindoos, 


186  WHAT  I  SAW, 

and  preserve  their  religion  and  system  of  caste,  together 
with  the  costumes  of  their  original  country,  as  well  as 
their  language,  somewhat  modified,  however,  by  their  rela- 
tions with  the  Cingalese.  The  neighboring  islands  and 
continents  supply  a  population  of  Mohammedans  to  Cey- 
lon, and  they  abound  in  several  parts  of  the  country, 
where,  in  the  various  orders  into  which  their  social  laws 
divide  them,  they  carry  on  a  prosperous  business  as  weav- 
ers, fishermen,  merchants,  etc.  They  are  among  the  most 
enterprising  and  thriving  of  the  population,  and  their 
well-known  skill  and  industry  have  secured  them  much  of 
the  commercial  wealth  and  influence  of  the  island. 

Here  at  Point  De  Galle  we  are  comfortably  housed  in 
a  fine  hotel,  the  "Eglington,"  presided  over  by  the  prince 
of  landlords,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  many  kind- 
nesses. The  heat  is  so  intense  that  venturing  out  except 
in  the  morning  and  evening  is  not  only  uncomfortable  but 
positively  dangerous  to  those  who  are  not  thoroughly 
acclimated.  Consequently  we  are  perforce  early  risers. 
We  breakfast  at  half-past  9,  lunch  at  1,  and  dine  at  7. 

Here,  as  elsewhere,  new-comers  are  besieged  by  an 
army  of  peddlers — those  persistent  peripatetic  venders  of 
various  wares  that  seem  to  be  coextensive  with  the  earth's 
surface.  First  comes  a  dealer  in  precious  stones,  asking 
two,  five,  or  ten  dollars  each.  I  have  a  firmly  imbedded 
impression  that  the  purchaser  would  be  swindled  if  he 
paid  half  as  many  cents.  No  sooner  have  these  fellows 
been  driven  away  than  their  places  are  taken  by  fan,  shawl, 
or  traffickers  in  other  commodities  of  use  or  ornament. 
Finally  a  snake  charmer  entered  and  at  once  began  opera- 
tions by  taking  from  a  basket  a  hideous,  slimy,  deadly 
cobra,  and  persisted,  despite  our  repeated  commands  to 
"get,^'  in  passing  it  around  his  neck,  through  his  arms, 
and    in    every    way    to    handle    it    as    a   child    would    a 


AND  HOW  2  SAW  IT.  187 

toy.  Ugh!  the  hideous  thing!  It  makes  my  flesh  creep 
to  think  of  it.  And  the  bite  of  the  reptile  is  as  certain 
*  and  almost  as  sudden  death  as  a  bullet  through  the  heart. 
It  was  a  positive  relief  when  the  fellow  retired  and  gave 
way  to  a  fresh  relay  of  peddlers.  Some  of  the  articles 
they  exhibit  are  wonderfully  beautiful,  and,  provided  the 
buyer  knows  how  to  drive  a  bargain,  can  be  obtained 
very  cheap.  I  conducted  for  several  hours  negotiations 
for  a  pair  of  ivory  miniature  elephants,  and  finally  secured 
them  for  forty  cents.  I  thought  they  were  cheap,  and 
they  certainly  were,  but  my  pride  was  considerably  damp- 
ened when  I  was  informed  that  I  had  paid  just  twice  what 
they  were  worth.  Tortoise-shell  combs,  of  delicate  designs 
and  elegant  finish,  that  would  delight  the  soul  of  an 
American  belle,  can  be  obtained  for  a  few  cents. 

There  is  certainly  an  unnecessary  plenitude  of  un- 
pleasant "  varmints  "  in  Ceylon.  Lodgers  at  the  hotel  have 
to  be  watchful  of  their  doors  and  windows  at  night,  if 
they  chance  to  be  sleepiug  on  the  first  floor,  as  the  sacred 
precincts  of  their  chambers  are  liable  to  be  invaded  by 
crocodiles  or  snakes.  Fortunately  our  room  is  on  the 
second  floor,  and  we  feel  comparatively  safe  from  such 
unwelcome  visitors.  I  have  always  been  under  the  im- 
pression that  crocodiles,  while  amphibious,  confine  them- 
selves to  the  immediate  vicinity  of  water.  In  Ceylon, 
however,  they,  particularly  the  young  ones,  perambulate 
even  through  the  streets  of  the  villages.  I  do  not  know 
whether  they  are  pets,  but  certain  it  is  they  are  never 
molested.  The  mosquitoes  we  always  have  with  us,  di- 
minutive, unmusical  little  fellows,  whose  powers  for  mis- 
chief, I  can  assure  you,  are  greatly  disproportionate  to 
their  size.  They  serve  one  good  purpose,  that  of  arousing 
us  to  spasmodic  energy  and  driving  away  for  the  time 
being  that  feeling  of  lazy,  do  n't-care-a-centatlveuess  that 


188  WHAT  I  SAW, 

creeps    gradually,    but    surely,    over   the    traveler    in    the 
troi)ics. 

Near  sunset  on  the  evening  after  our  arrival  we  strolled,  • 
in  company  with  our  landlord,  outside  the  walls  of  the  city. 
The  old  city  of  Point  de  Galle  is  surrounded  by  a  wall 
about  forty  feet  high  and  perhaps  twenty  thick,  constructed 
centuries  since  by  the  Portuguese.  At  present  it  serves 
no  particular  purpose,  unless  it  be  that  of  increasing  al- 
most beyond  endurance  the  heat  from  which  the  Inter- 
mural  population  suffer.  They  are  shut  off  com2)letely 
from  the  breezes  that  make  existence  at  least  endurable 
to  the  outsiders.  The  scenes  presented  to  our  view  as  we 
walked  leisurely  through  a  road  leading  out  into  the 
country  were  novel  and  calculated  to  Impress  the  wander- 
ing Yankee  with  the  possibilities  of  the  country  and  the 
woeful  shiftlessness  of  the  population.  There  is  probably 
not  a  more  prolific  soil  in  the  world,  not  a  spot  where  the 
earth  yields  more  liberally,  yet  there  is  seemingly  an  al- 
most entire  lack  of  system  in  the  cultivation,  and  not  one- 
tenth  of  the  crops  are  raised  that  could  be  produced.  It 
is,  however,  one  of  the  provisions  of  nature  that  the  in- 
dustries of  a  people  shall  be  in  proportion  to  their  neces- 
sities. A  Hindoo  would  starve  to  death  in  Scotland,  and 
it  is  probable  that  the  thrifty  Scotchman  would.  In  a  few 
generations,  become  as  Indolent  and  shiftless  as  the  natives 
if  transferred  to  the  tropics.  The  road  along  which  our 
promenade  extended  Is  lined  with  stately  cocoanut  palms, 
among  which  are  the  thatched  huts  of  the  natives.  We 
visited  a  nutmeg  plantation  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city,  and 
returned  to  the  hotel  for  a  late  dinner. 

The  following  day,  still  enjoying  the  guidance  and 
genial  companionship  of  our  landlord,  we  devoted  to  fur- 
ther explorations  of  the  vicinity.  In  the  morning  we  rode 
out  a  distance  of  about  ten  miles.     At  the  risk  of  being 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  189 

thought  extravagant,  I  am  j^repared  to  say  that  no  spot  on 
earth  whereon  my  eyes  have  rested  will  equal  in  attractive- 
ness the  island  of  Ceylon.  Our  route  carried  us  through 
beautiful  valleys,  over  gradual  ascents,  wooded  knolls  where 
the  luxuriance  of  tropical  vegetation  was  exhibited  in  all  its 
varied  beauty.  We  paused  at  times  in  shaded  dells,  where 
the  blistering  rays  of  the  sun  never  penetrate,  and  where 
one  could  ask  only  to  remain  forever.  We  passed  a  number 
of  coffee  ^plantations,  and  studied  briefly,  under  the  tuition 
of  our  guide,  the  mode  of  cultivating  the  berry.  The  tree 
in  Ceylon  grows  to  the  height  of  about  four  or  five  feet,  and 
is  covered  with  a  dark,  smooth,  and  shining  evergreen  foli- 
age. The  shrubs  are  raised  by  hand  in  nurseries  and  trans- 
planted when  about  six  months  old.  It  comes  into  full 
bearing  at  the  age  of  three  years,  and  under  proper  care 
will  continue  to  bear  for  thirty  years.  A  peculiarity  of 
the  tree  is  that  it  has  no  season  for  blossoming  or  bear- 
ing, the  process  being  continuous — the  blossoms  and  ma- 
tured berries  being  found  upon  the  same  tree  at  the  same 
time.  Sometimes  the  natives  prepare  an  infusion  of  the 
leaves,  much  as  a  decoction  of  tea  is  made.  The  leaves 
contain  the  same  properties  as  the  berries,  but  to  a  more 
limited  extent,  and  the  product  possesses  a  flavor  somewhat 
different  from  the  genuine  article. 

The  cinnamon  is  Indigenous  to  Ceylon,  and  during  our 
ride  we  plucked  some  branches  from  a  bush  not  unlike 
our  hazelnut  in  appearance.  We  witnessed  the  process  of 
peeling  the  bark,  which  when  dried  forms  the  cinnamon 
of  commerce.  Pineapples,  that  luscious  fruit  which  is 
classed  among  the  luxuries  the  world  over,  grows  wild  in 
Ceylon,  and  in  places  the  road  is  literally  lined  with  them. 
Another  peculiar  production  of  this  land  of  plenty  is  the 
lemon  grass,  from  which  is  distilled  an  oil  known  as  lemon 
oil.     This   grass   has,  of  course,  no   connection  with  the 


190  WHAT  I  SAW, 

citrus  limonum,  or  lemon  producing  tree,  but  is  very  similar 
iu  flavor  to  the  lemon. 

In  the  afternoon  we  drove  to  the  famous  bungalow 
Wackwalla,  noted  for  the  extensive  view  of  Adam's  Peak, 
and  the  general  range  of  Ceylonese  mountains.  The 
scenery  is  a  repetition  of  that  upon  the  morning  drive, 
with  a  pleasant  variety  provided  by  beautiful  parrots  and 
agile  monkeys  staring  at  us  from  the  branches  of  the 
trees.  The  monkey  wild  is  simply  the  creature  which  pro- 
vides a  fund  of  amusement  for  the  patrons  of  menageries 
at  home,  improved  and  perfected  by  freedom.  The  fan- 
tastic tricks  which  at  home  bring  smiles  to  the  most 
sedate  countenances  are  here  seen  in  an  exaggerated  and 
greater  laugh-producing  form. 

One  of  the  drawbacks  of  a  residence,  as  I  have  before 
intimated,  is  the  prevalence  of  reptiles  of  various  dis- 
agreeable species.  Here  in  the  hotel  we  have  been  more 
startled  than  entertained  by  the  presence  of  an  immense 
lizard  in  the  tiling  of  the  roof  over  our  bedroom.  He  makes 
his  presence  known  by  a  continuous  "cluck,"  "cluck." 
They  are  said  not  to  be  dangerous,  but  are  disagreeable 
companions  nevertheless. 

In  the  evening,  after  our  return  from  the  drive  to  the 
bungalow  Wackwalla,  we  completed  our  preparations  for 
the  trip  to  Colombo  by  stage,  and  thence  by  rail  to  Kandy. 
The  latter  may  be  remembered  by  my  readers  as  the  place 
of  retreat  selected  by  one  Harlow  Case,  who  some  years 
ago  stole  the  wife  of  the  collector  at  Sandusky,  together 
with  thirty-five  thousand  dollars.  The  retributive  justice 
which  overtook  the  offender,  the  death  of  his  companion, 
and  the  fleeing  from  Ceylon  of  the  broken-hearted  victim 
of  remorse,  formed  a  few  years  ago  the  basis  of  a  touch- 
ing romance.  The  incidents  of  the  trip  will  be  reserved 
for  another  chapter. 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  191 


XVII. 

Further  of  Ceylon— Trip  to  Colombo  and  Kandy — The  Ancient 
AND  Modern  Capitals — Something  more  op  the  Natives — 
Railroading  in  the  Tropics — Some  Disadvantages  op  a 
Residence. 

Point  De  Galle,  Ceylon,  Dece^nber  6,  1881. 

After  partaking  of  a  hurried  breakfast  at  the  hotel, 
composed  of  toast,  eggs,  and  other  home-like  delicacies, 
Ave  took  our  seats  in  the  royal  mail  coach,  bound  for 
Colombo,  a  distance  of  seventy  miles.  There  were  seven 
passengers,  who,  together  with  the  driver,  trumpeter,  and 
mail  man,  filled  our  complement  of  ten.  The  horses  are 
a  cross  between  the  Australian  and  Arabian  breeds,  and, 
all  being  stallions,  are  apparently  as  vicious  as  they  are 
restless.  Each  animal  is  held  firmly  by  an  attendant  until 
the  driver  gives  the  word.  Then  they  spring  forward  in 
unison,  and  for  miles  carry  us  onward  at  the  height  of 
their  speed,  the  wheels  spinning,  the  dust  flying,  the  trum- 
peter, blowing  his  shrill  blasts  of  warning  to  pedestrians, 
and  the  miles  passing  behind  us  like  the  shadows  of  a 
sv/ift-flying  cloud.  The  first  six  miles  were  covered  in 
thirty  minntes,  and  as  we  drew  up  to  the  station,  our 
horses  covered  with  foam  and  ourselves  exhilarated  by  the 
rapid  motion  and  pure  morning  breeze,  we  felt  that  trav- 
eling in  Ceylon  had  its  manifold  pleasures.  Along  the 
road  over  which  we  passed  is  a  continuous  succession  of 
villages,  so  close  together  that  the  intervening  spaces  are 
scarcely  discernible.  These  villages  are  inhabited  almost 
wholly  by  natives,  who  might  be  called  half-civilized.     By 


192  WHAT  J  SAW, 

contact  with  and  under  the  influence  of  foreigners  much 
of  their  original  rough  surfaces  and  sharp  corners  have 
been  smoothed,  and  they  present  the  aspect  of  a  people  in 
the  transition  state  between  barbarous  savagery  and  quali- 
fied civilization. 

Schools  are  abundant,  and  are  liberally  patronized.  A 
peep  into  a  native  school  in  Ceylon  brings  to  view  a  scene 
at  once  novel  and  picturesque.  Imagine  if  you  can  a  low 
thatched  hut,  where  the  light  struggles  in  through  the 
numerous  apertures  in  the  wall  and  falls  upon  a  collection 
of  naked  imps,  of  both  sexes,  who  are  barren  of  adorn- 
ment except  the  circlets  of  gold  which  cover  their  fingers, 
arms,  and  toes.  I  understand  they  are  bright  pupils, 
quick  and  eager  to  learn  and  possessed  of  retentive  mem- 
ories. It  is  the  ambition  of  most  Cingalese  to  obtain  a 
knowledge  of  the  English  language,  as  thus  the  avenues 
of  lucrative  and  honorable  employment  are  open  to  them. 
The  native  wdio  has  mastered  the  English  language,  se- 
cured the  rudiments  ot  an  education  and  entered  the  serv- 
ice of  the  government  or  a  commercial  establishment, 
considers  himself  several  degrees  removed  above  his  less 
fortunate  fellows,  and  puts  on  a  degree  of  airs  that  is 
positively  amusing. 

Among  the  varied  sights  in  these  villages  is  that  of 
young  crocodiles,  three  or  four  feet  long,  who  parade  the 
streets  as  freely  as  the  children.  They  are  harmless  and 
are  never  disturbed  by  the  natives,  who  have  some  sort 
of  a  belief  that  the  spirits  of  their  ancestors  have  trans- 
migrated into  these  slimy  reptiles.  I  have  no  special  antip- 
athy to  a  crocodile,  but  if  my  soul  is  to  enter  any  kind 
of  a  beast  after  my  mortal  part  is  done  with  it,  I  would 
prefer  that  it  should  exercise  more  discrimination  than  to 
select  either  a  crocodile  or  a  Chinaman. 

There  are  no   people   in  the  world  whom  I  have  en- 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT. 


193 


countered  that  are  wholly  without  commendatory  features, 
except  the  Chinese,  and  we  see  much  in  the  temperaments 
and  habits  of  the 
Cingalese  to  admire. 
They  are  universally 
cleanly  in  their  per- 
sons and  houses,  and 
even  the  streets  of 
their  villages  are 
kept  free  from  the 
accumulations  of 
garbage  and  other 
filth,  that  too  often 
distino-uish  other  and 
more  civilized  place;-. 
This  is  probably  o\v- 
ino-  o-reatlv  to  the 
presence  of  the  pesky 
little  crocodiles, 
which  are  said  to  be 
omniverous  in  their 
habits.  They  will 
eat  any  thing  from  a 
camp-kettle  to  a 
puppy,  but  they 
never  'disturb  the 
little  pickaninnies 
who  roam  through 
the  hiohwavs  in 
reckless  abandon. 
The     road    over 


The  Coeoanut  Palm  of  Ceylon. 


which  we  passed  lies  in  the  west  part  ot  the  island,  and 
certainly  sustains  its  reputation  for  being  the  finest  high- 
way in  the  world.     For  miles  upon  miles  it  passes  through 

13 


194  WHAT  I  SAW, 

a  dense  grove  of  the  diiferent  varieties  of  the  palm,  varied 
at  times  by  a  coffee,  2)epper,  or  nutmeg  plantation.  Many 
of  the  latter  are  thousands  of  acres  in  extent,  and  are, 
even  under  the  prevailing  superficial  system  of  cultiva- 
tion, the  source  of  immense  revenue.  I  have  previously 
given  a  brief  and  incomplete  account  of  the  growing  of 
coffee  and  nutmeg.  If  I  were  to  undertake  a  description 
of  the  pepper  fruits,  it  would  prove  an  endless  task,  as 
there  are  said  by  naturalists  to  be  no  less  than  six  hun- 
dred varieties.  The  common  black  pepper  is  the  dried, 
unripe  fruit  of  the  ji^P^r  nigrum,  a  kind  of  vine,  on  which 
the  growing  fruit  looks  a  little  like  small  grapes.  To  the 
taste  these  are  excessively  acrid,  combining  to  a  great  ex- 
tent the  qualities  of  Indian  turnip  and  persimmon.  No 
one  cares  about  experimenting  upon  it  more  than  once. 
The  bread  fruit  is  a  peculiar  production  of  the  tropics, 
v/hich  fully  sustains  its  suggestive  name.  The  tree  grows 
to  the  height  of  about  forty  or  fifty  feet  and  is  perhaps  a 
foot  in  diameter,  and,  like  the  cocoanut  palm,  almost  every 
part  of  the  product  is  utilized  in  some  way.  The  fruit  is 
larger  than  the  cocoanut,  and  the  seeds  are  large,  nut-like 
bodies,  which,  when  roasted,  are  said  to  be  as  fine  as  the 
best  chestnuts.  The  fleshy  pulp  is,  however,  the  valuable 
part  of  the  fruit.  It  is  as  white  as  snow  and  of  the  con- 
sistence of  new  bread,  and  when  baked  becomes  excellent 
food,  tasting  not  unlike  the  genuine  wheaten  bread.  A 
cloth  is  made  from  the  fiber  of  the  inner  bark,  the  wood 
is  used  for  making  boats  and  building  houses.  The  male 
ament,  or  non-productive  pod,  is  useful  for  tinder,  the 
leaves  are  useful  for  towels  and  to  wrap  provisions  in, 
while  the  juice  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  a  kind  of 
cement  for  filling  up  the  cracks  of  water  vessels. 

During  our  trip  up  the  country  we   secured  our  first 
view  of  a  case  of  what  is  known  as  the  "  white  leprosy." 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  195 

The  peculiar  appearance  of  a  native,  as  black  as  midnight 
by  nature,  covered  with  white  spots  looking  like  drops  of 
whitewash,  is  very  peculiar.  The  white  leprosy  is  dry, 
and  consequently  not  so  hideous  in  its  appearance  as  the 
more  common  variety,  which  exudes  the  most  sickening 
suppuration. 

Fishing  is  the  occupation  of  a  large  proportion  of  the 
Cingalese  on  the  sea-shore.  The  nets  are  prodigious 
affairs,  stretching  out  for  a  mile  in  a  semicircle,  and  the 
drawing  is  the  occasion  of  a  grand  holiday,  and  the 
women  and  children  assist  in  the  process  of  dragging  the 
net.  An  almost  incredible  amount  and  variety  of  fish  is 
the  result,  and,  as  fish  composes  a  large  part  of  the  diet 
of  the  natives  of  these  sections,  their  happiness  and 
physical  content  rises  in  due  proportion  to  the  extent  of 
the  haul. 

Among  our  passengers  in  the  stage  was  an  educated 
native,  from  whom  I  derived  much  information  concerning 
the  country  and  its  people.  He  told  me  the  missionaries 
had  done  some  good,  but  the  trouble  is,  that  the  natives, 
as  soon  as  they  derive  a  material  benefit  from  the  educa- 
tion given  and  the  influence  extended,  return  to  the  Bud- 
dhist faith.  He  unhesitatingly  admitted  that  the  English 
dominion  of  the  island  had  proven  a  blessing  to  the  peo- 
ple, infusing  energy  into  the  natives  and  creating  in  their 
sluggish  minds  an  ambition  for  better  things  than  mere 
existence.  Of  course,  this  influence  is  apparent  in  its 
efiects  through  only  a  limited  part  of  the  island.  Ceylon, 
it  must  be  remembered,  is  a  small  continent  in  extent, 
being  nearly  three  hundred  miles  long  and  three-fourths  as 
wide.  But  a  portion  of  the  country  has  felt  the  touch  of 
civilization,  and  in  the  impenetrable  jungles  of  the  inte- 
rior the  inhabitants  continue  to  exist  In  the  condition  of 
primitive  barbarism.     These  people  are  known  as  Veddas, 


196  WHAT  I  SAW, 

and  by  some  authors  are  spoken  of  as  a  different  race 
from  the  Cingule.se.  The  native  of  whom  I  have  spoken 
entertained  us  with  much  information  and  incidents  typi- 
fying the  lives  of  the  people.  In  passing  along  he  pointed 
to  a  range  of  hills  that  stretched  across  the  distant  land- 
scape,  and  told  us  the  country  there  was  infested  with 
nearly  every  kind  of  wild  animal  and  reptile  known  to 
the  tropics.  We  were  wholly  willing  to  accejit  his  state- 
ment without  investigating  the  truth  of  it. 

One  incident  occurred  during  our  ride  which  shows 
that  the  natives  are  not  lacking  in  frankness,  and  wit  as 
well.  A  boy  of  about  sixteen  entered  the  coach,  and 
finding  that  he  could  talk  some  English,  I  engaged  in 
conversation  with  him.  He  was  filled  with  the  ambition 
peculiar  to  boys  the  world  over,  and  looked  upon  the 
future  through  glasses  of  the  rosiest  hue.  He  said  he  had 
already  saved  enough  money  to  buy  a  little  piece  of  land, 
and  was  now  laying  by  a  store  to  purchase  him  a  wife. 
"Why,"  said  I,  "let  me  sell  you  mine."  He  looked 
quizzically  for  a  moment  at  the  robust  partner  of  my  joys 
and  sorrows,  and  exclaimed,  with  all  the  apparent  inno- 
cence imaginable:  "No,  I  thank  you!  I  have  one  mother." 
Just  where  the  laugh  came  in  I  was  not  left  in  doubt  by 
the  other  passengers.  Mrs.  Converse  was  seriously  dis- 
gusted by  the  boy's  evident  lack  of  appreciation,  but 
consoled  herself  with  the  philosophical  reflection  that  he 
was  only  a  heathen  any  way. 

All  the  way  up  the  coast  we  met  hundreds  of  bullock- 
carts,  the  animals  being  of  the  same  variety  as  the  sacred 
cow  that  I  mentioned  in  a  letter  from  Singapore,  and  also 
the  same  that  the  people  of  the  States  gaze  upon  w^ith  such 
awe  beneath  the  tents  of  Barnum  or  some  other  caterer  to 
the  public  desire  for  humbuggery.  The  only  difference  I 
can  see  is,  that  these  beasts  of  burden  in  Ceylon  are  all 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  197 

males.  They  are  a  prime  necessity  to  the  natives,  as  they 
do  not  suffer  from  the  heat,  and  can  draw  a  heavily 
loaded  cart  twenty  miles  a  day.  A  smaller  variety  are 
hitched  in  shafts,  and  will  travel  much  faster.  These 
latter  are  pleasure  vehicles,  and  some  of  them  are  gor- 
geous in  their  finish,  exhibiting  the  universal  fondness  of 
the  savages  for  bright  colors  and  garish  display. 

The  stasce  ride  was  concluded  at  a  distance  of  twentv- 
four  miles  from  the  objective  point  of  our  journey,  and  we* 
entered  the  cars  for  the  short  run  to  Colombo.  It  was 
our  first  view  of  a  railroad  since  leaving  Japan,  and  we 
felt  like  greeting  the  train  as  an  old  and  half-forgotten 
friend.  A  railroad  ride  in  the  tropics  presents  features  of 
attractivenes  that  are  not  elsewhere  found.  The  novelty 
of  rattling  through  palm  groves,  interspersed  with  coffee, 
nutmeg,  and  indigo  plantations,  is  one  that  leads  the 
traveler  through  channels  of  thought  differing  from  the 
experiences  of  home,  and  causes  him  to  express  renewed 
wonderment  at  the  stupendous  enterprise  of  man  when  led 
forward  by  the  demands  of  civilization  and  commerce. 

Colombo  is  the  modern  capital  of  Ceylon  and  the  seat 
of  government.  The  town,  within  the  walls,  Is  regularly 
laid  out  in  European  style  with  one-storied  houses,  faced 
with  verandas.  It  possesses  some  fine  public  buildings, 
and  is,  upon  the  whole,  a  handsome  and  flourishing  place 
of  perhaps  fifty  thousand  inhabitants.  It  labors  under  the 
disadvantage  of  an  inferior  harbor,  not  being  accessible  to 
vessels  of  the  heaviest  tonnage.  It  Is  said  to  be  very 
healthy,  but  the  water  supply  is  limited.  Outside  the 
walls  the  appearance  of  the  city  does  not  differ  greatly 
from  the  suburban  parts  of  other  tropical  towns.  The 
huts  of  the  natives  are  grouped  together  in  a  fantastical 
disregard  for  symmetry,  and  It  is  difficult  to  determine 
just  where  the  town  ends  and  the  country  begins.      We 


198  WHAT  I  SAW, 

only  remained  one  clay,  during  which  we  were  quartered 
at  the  British-India  Hotel,  and  were  much  annoyed,  as 
usual,  by  the  native  peddlers.  In  this  case,  however,  they 
were  mainly  women,  who  offered  for  sale  their  own  manu- 
facture of  lace  and  edgings.  I  learned  nothing  of  the 
process  of  manufacture,  but  the  product  evinces  a  skill  of 
which  civilization  would  not  be  ashamed. 

During  our  stay  at  Colombo  we  visited  a  neighboring 
'village  occupied  exclusively  by  a  distinct  caste  of  Hindoos. 
They  are  very  black,  with  long,  straight  hair  and  rather 
regular  features.  Most  of  the  adults  wear  heavy  gold  orna- 
ments pendent  from  each  side  of  the  nose.  The  children, 
in  full  dress,  are  clothed  in  a  belt  around  the  waist,  from 
which  hangs  a  plate,  perhaps  four  inches  square,  fulfilling 
the  same  purpose  as  the  fig-leaf  aprons  devised  by  our  fore- 
parents  in  the  Garden  of  Eden.  They  are  a  curious 
people,  very  reticent  and  exclusive  in  their  habits,  min- 
gling but  little  with  either  the  natives  or  the  Europeans. 

Our  guide  took  us  to  a  temple,  and  he  was  evidently 
proud  of  the  privilege  of  showing  it,  but  we  were  dis- 
gusted. The  miserable  structure  would  not  make  a  fit 
stable  for  the  temples  of  Japan.  The  guide  was  exceed- 
ingly anxious  to  have  us  extend  our  trip  six  miles  further, 
where  he  promised  our  thirst  for  attractive  novelties  should 
be  thoroughly  satisfied.  But  his  intentions  were  too  trans- 
parent, and  we  declined  thus  to  minister  to  his  desire  to 
collect  an  extra  and  exorbitant  fee.  There  is  an  inde- 
finable something  about  the.  occupation  of  guide  and  driver, 
the  world  over,  from  the  pertinacious  hackman  of  New 
York  to  the  meek-eyed  chief  engineer  of  a  Ceylon  bullock 
cart,  that  makes  them  inseparable  from  the  most  unblush- 
ing rascality.  In  the  language  of  the  venerable  S.  J. 
Tilden,  "reform  is  needed."  We  instituted  the  necessary 
reformation   on   our   Cingalese   guide   by   telling  him   as 


AND  HO  W  I  SAW  IT.  199 

plainly  as  the  English  language  would  permit  that  his 
scheme  wouldn't  work,  and  that  he  would  consult  the 
safety  of  his  shiny  hide  by  returning  us  at  once  to  the 
hotel.  With  many  protestations  and  wordy  demurrers,  he 
complied,  assuring  us  that  we  had  sacrificed  the  grandest 
opportunity  of  our  lives.  Perhaps  we  did,  but  we  have 
the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  he  mourned  most  over  the 
loss  of  an  extra  fee. 

Colombo  is  the  great  cojBfee  mart  of  the  island,  and 
during  our  brief  stay  we  saw  perhaps  not  less  than  two 
thousand  bullock  carts  arrive  from  the  interior  with  loads 
of  the  berry. 

The  following  morning,  at  an  early  hour,  when  the 
residents  of  Ohio  were  preparing  to  rest  their  weary  heads 
upon  their  pillows,  and  court  the  drowsy  god,  we  entered 
the  train  for  Kandy,  a  distance  of  seventy-five  miles  over 
the  mountains.  The  road  is  a  marvel  of  civil  engineering, 
rising  in  many  places  as  much  as  one  hundred  and  six  feet 
to  the  mile.  For  a  short  distance  before  striking  the 
mountains,  the  road  skirts  the  sea-shore,  where  we  saw 
multidudcs  of  the  water-buifalo,  a  curious  animal,  of  a 
dark  blue  color,  with  long  horns  resting  upon  the  shoulders 
and  back.  They  are  about  the  size  of  an  ordinary  ox, 
and  would  weigh  perhaps  fifteen  hundred  to  eighteen  hun- 
dred pounds. 

The  town  of  Kandy,  or  Candy,  is  located  in  the  in- 
terior of  the  island,  and  surrounded  by  hills  and  mountains, 
varying  in  height  from  two  hundred  to  two  thousand  feet. 
The  town  stands  upon  the  border  of  an  artificial  lake,  and 
at  a  distance  of  perhaps  three  miles  is  the  river  Mahavilly 
Ganga,  a  mountain  stream,  which  at  this  point  is  navigable 
only  for  small  boats.  The  population  is  about  three  thou- 
sand. Kandy  is  one  of  the  places  occupied  by  the  British 
in  1815,  when  they  "possessed"  the  entire  island.     The 


200  WHAT  J  SAW, 

impression  made  upon  the  visitor  is  one  of  wonderment — 
speculation  uj)on  what  ever  induced  any  body  to  build  a 
town  there.  It  has  no  trade  except  that  which  comes  to 
it  as  a  kind  of  preliminary  depot  for  the  products  of  the 
country,  preparatory  to  the  transportation  to  the  coast. 
The  town  is  situated  about  fourteen  hundred  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea,  in  the  midst  of  as  fine  scenery  as  can 
be  found  in  the  tropics.  It  has  but  one  "  natural  produc- 
tion," and  that  is  Buddhist  tcni2)les.  No  wealthy  resident's 
house  is  considered  comj)lete  without  one,  and  they  are 
filled  with  the  usual  variety  of  gods — big  gods  and  little 
gods,  old  gods  and  young  gods,  black  gods  and  white  gods, 
and  gods  of  every  conceivable  color,  size,  and  shajjc;  in 
fact,  the  only  variety  of  gods  which  we  failed  to  see  was  a 
handsome  god.  It  is  strange,  to  us  at  least,  why,  if  these 
unregenerate  heathen  must  worship  inanimate  representa- 
tions, they  do  not,  occasionally  at  least,  select  something 
that  is  handsome.  "Without  exce2)tion,  the  titular  deities 
of  the  Buddhists  are  hideous  caricatures,  calculated  to 
frighten  all  the  faith  out  of  the  beholder. 

We  stopped  at  the  Queen's  Hotel,  and,  after  dining, 
procured  a  carriage  for  a  drive  through  the  town  and 
vicinity.  We  went  out  eight  or  ten  miles,  over,  around, 
and  under  the  hills,  and  past  coffee  and  cocoa  plantations 
almost  without  number.  We  could  not  ])ut  respect  the 
taste  of  Case,  the  Sandusky  embezzler,  who  sought  refuge 
for  himself  and  companion  in  this  earthly  elysium.  There 
certainly  is  not  a  spot  upon  earth  combining  more  of  the 
beautiful  in  nature  than  the  little  town  of  Kandy.  Shut 
out  from  the  bewildering  hurly-burly  of  the  busy  world, 
surrounded  by  every  thing  that  makes  life  a  pleasure,  ex- 
istence is  but  a  pleasant  dream.  We  could  not  but  envy 
the  luxurious  ease  and  comforting  absence  of  care  among 
the  residents. 


.     AND  HOW  J  SAW  IT.  201 

In  Kautly  we  saw  worneii  at  work  cleauiug  the  streets, 
in  very  unbecoming  undress,  hut  wearing  heavy  gold  jew- 
elry, bracelets  encircling  the  arms  and  legs,  rings  covering 
the  toes  and  fingers,  and  ornaments  of  the  same  precious 
metal  pendent  from  their  ears  and  noses.  The  value  of 
the  jewelry  worn  by  each  could  not  have  been  less  than 
several  hundred  dollars.  The  feminine  taste  for  jewelry 
seems  to  be  world-wide,  and  nowhere  is  it  indulged  in 
more  recklessly  than  by  the  barbarians  of  the  tropics. 

Of  course,  we  had  to  visit  the  temples,  but  we  confined 
our  attention  to  one  in  particular,  a  heterogeneous  pile 
which  contains  the  very  sacred  tooth  of  the  venerated 
Buddha.  It  is  a  large  stone  building,  with  a  dome-shaped 
roof.  In  this  dome  is  a  smaller  one,  some  six  feet  high 
and  about  four  in  diameter.  This  latter  is  of  pure  gold, 
and  contains,  it  is  said,  the  venerated  molar  of  the  great 
Buddha.  We  endeavored  to  get  a  look  at  the  tooth,  but 
could  not  prevail  upon  the  attendant  to  exhibit  it,  he  ex- 
cusing himself  by  saying  that  the  country  would  be  del- 
uged with  rain  if  our  profane  eyes  were  allowed  to  rest 
upon  the  sacred  relic.  It  would  seem  that  the  venerated 
head  of  the  Church  must  have  been  displeased  with  our 
visit,  as  when  we  emerged  from  the  temple  the  rain  was 
pouring  down  in  sheets  of  dampness.  In  front  of  the 
temple  is  the  artificial  lake  before  spoken  of.  It  covers 
an  area  of  about  fifty  acres,  and  upon  a  small  island  In 
the  center  is  a  prison  where  the  ancient  kings  incarcerated 
their  wives  when  they  became  obstreperous,  or  for  any 
other  reason  they  wearied  of  their  presence.  Tradition. 
says  that  the  lake  was  utilized  by  the  kings  mainly  as  a 
convenience  for  strangling  their  wives,  or  any  other  sub- 
ject who  incurred  their  royal  displeasure. 

During  our  stay  in  Kandy  the  natives  indulged  in  a 
festival   of  some  kind,   the   exact   nature   or  purport   of 


202  WHAT  I  SAW, 

which  we  were  unable  to  learn.  It  possessed  all  the  fea- 
tures of  hideous  noise  that  usually  attend  the  festivals  of 
the  barbarians.  The  streets  were  filled  with  naked  na- 
tives, hideously  painted,  who  marched  and  countermarched 
to  the  discordant  music  of  native  drums  and  the  scarcely 
less  nerve-torturing  sounds  of  their  own  voices.  They 
were  divided  into  several  parties,  led  each  by  one  who  was 
denominated  "The  Tiger."  AYhen  these  parties  encoun- 
tered each  other  they  followed  the  example  of  more  civil- 
ized people,  and  fought  like  devils  or  volunteer  firemen. 

The  tombs  of  the  ancient  kings  are  located  at  Kandy, 
this  having  been  the  capital  of  the  kingdom.  They  are 
sepulchered  beneath  a  stone  canoj^y-like  structure,  some 
fifty  feet  high  and  thirty  in  diameter.  There  is  nothing 
particularly  attractive  about  the  mausoleum,  but  I  suppose 
that  under  the  protection  of  that  tooth  of  the  great 
Buddha  they  rest  content. 

Occasionally  some  incident  occurs  in  our  travels  that 
reminds  us  forcibly  of  home.  At  Kandy  our  ears  were 
greeted  with  the  soul-stirring  music  of  "  Yankee  Doodle," 
rendered  ujwn  a  piano,  and  upon  a  sign-board  we  read, 
"Coats'  Spool  Thread"  and  "Windsor  Soap."  The  uni- 
versal Yankee  has  penetrated  the  jungles  of  Ceylon  and 
established  a  trade  for  his  wares  in  the  very  shadow  of  the 
tooth  of  Buddha. 

Elsewhere  I  have  spoken  of  the  hotels  of  Ceylon  and 
praised  their  good  qualities.  Well,  the  hostelry  at  Point 
de  Galle  is  an  excellent  hotel,  and  those  at  Colombo  and 
Kandy  good  of  their  kind,  but  unfortunately  the  variety  is 
not  of  the  most  choice.  The  landlords  are  the  most  un- 
blushing scoundrels  outside  of  Washington  City.  Knavery 
with  them  is  reduced  to  a  science  that  would  put  to  shame 
a  mail  route  expediter.  If  the  traveler  hopes  or  expects  to 
escape  extortion  he  must  prepare  a  written  contract,  as 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  203 

elaborate  as  a  warranty  deed,  and  as  binding  as  a  cognovit 
note,  and  even  then  the  chances  are  that  he  will  be  vic- 
timized. If  a  Christian  can  settle  a  hotel  bill  in  Colombo 
or  Kandy  without  sacrificing  some  of  his  meek  and  lowly 
spirit  he  has  explored  a  depth  of  humility  which  I  have 
never  reached.  I  have  a  valuable  assistant  on  such  occa- 
sions in  my  versatile  companion.  In  fact,  she  does  most 
of  the  vigorous  negotiations,  and  I  sit  back  in  mute 
admiration  while  she  lays  down  the  law  to  the  heathen. 
The  voluble  determination  of  Mrs.  C.  does  much  to  bring 
about  an  adjustment,  and  the  landlord  succumbs  as  grace- 
fully as  possible. 

On  Saturday  w^e  left  Kandy  by  rail,  and  spent  Sunday 
at  the  little  village  of  Kalatura,  on  the  sea-shore,  prepara- 
tory to  resuming  the  stage  for  Point  de  Galle.  We 
stojjped  at  what  is  known  in  tropical  parlance  as  a  "rest 
house."  Fancy  a  small  one-story  building,  in  the  midst 
of  a  dense  palm  grove,  with  a  tile  roof  and  floor,  open 
sides,  the  bedsteads  with  "teeters,"  covered  with  netting, 
and  you  have  an  idea  of  our  surroundings  on  that  beautiful 
Sunday  morning.  Songsters  of  the  most  brilliant  plumage 
and  finest  voices  filled  the  trees;  the  native  attendants 
lolled  about  in  the  complete  abandon  of  unrestrained 
laziness,  and  again  we  felt  that  it  was  good  to  be  alive. 
We  were  interested  listeners  to  the  stories  told  by  a  party 
of  elephant  hunters  who  had  just  returned  from  a  chase  in 
the  interior,  a  distance  of  some  eighty  miles.  They  were 
apparently  disappointed  in  not  having  secured  but  nine. 

We  saw  several  specimens  of  the  Vedda  tribes  that 
inhabit  the  interior  of  the  island.  They  are  remarkable 
for  their  fine  physical  development,  the  women  in  this 
regard  being  scarcely  inferior  to  the  sterner  sex.  They 
are  coal  black,  with  skins  as  smooth  and  glistening  as 
polished   ebony.      They   are   said   to   be   peaceful,   unless 


204  WHAT  1  SAW, 

aroused  by  oppression,  when  they  become  a  terror  to  their 
enemies.  While  nominally  under  the  control  of  the  local 
British  Government,  they  are  practically  independent,  hav- 
ing their  own  tribal  governments,  an.d  intent  only  upon 
securing  the  greatest  pleasure  from  existence  in  a  land 
where  their  opportunities  are  unlimited. 

One  of  the  sights  of  Ceylon,  and  at  the  same  time  one 
of  its  curses,  is  the  white  ants.  These  tiny  creatures  build 
their  nests  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  rising  sometimes  to 
the  height  of  six  or  eight  feet.  There  is  absolutly  nothing 
which  they  will  not  eat  through  except  stone,  metal,  or 
glass.  They  are  the  pest  of  the  natives,  and  the  annoy- 
ance is  one  that  can  not  readily  be  overcome.  They  pene- 
trate everywhere,  and  nothing  is  safe  from  their  ravages. 

I  have  spoken  elsewhere  of  the  natural  distaste  of  the 
natives  for  physical  or  mental  exertion.  There  is  an  ex- 
ception to  this  rule  in  the  universal  thirst  for  gold,  not, 
however,  as  with  us,  for  purposes  of  exchange,  but  for 
ornament.  A  native  Cingalese  will  scheme,  steal,  and  even 
work  for  gold  with  which  to  ornament  the  different  parts 
of  his  anatomy.  The  metal  is  found  here,  though  not  in 
lavish  abundance.  Some  writers  claim  that  Ceylon  was 
the  place  to  which  vessels  were  dispatched  to  procure  gold 
and  precious  stones  for  the  Temple  of  Solomon  at  Jeru- 
salem. It  may  be  so,  but  if  any  one  were  to  ask  me 
whether  it  is,  I  would  be  compelled  to  admit  that  I  do  n't 
know.  There  are  many  precious  stones,  of  great  variety, 
to  be  found  in  Ceylon,  but  my  Impression  is  that  they  are 
largely  of  an  inferior  quality. 

In  going  back  to  Galle  we  passed  over  the  same  road 
traveled  in  going  up,  and  found  in  every  mile  new  beau- 
ties that  had  been  overlooked. 

After  mature  consideration,  and  after  seeing  much  of 
the   island,  its  people  and  their  manner  of  living,  I  am 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  205 

constrained  to  say  that  I  would  not  live  here  the  balance 
of  my  days  for  all  the  wealth  of  India.  In  tropical  lux- 
uriance and  the  munificence  of  bt)untiful  nature,  Ceylon 
is  unsurpassed.  The  trouble  is,  nature  has  done  too 
much — rather  overdid  the  thing,  as  it  were.  Notwith- 
standing the  luxurious  ease  of  the  people,  there  is  too 
much  activity  in  the  island  to  suit  me.  The  mosquitoes 
will  eat  you  up,  the  ants  will  build  winter-quarters  in 
your  flesh  and  destroy  your  clothing,  the  deadly  cobra 
will  make  itself  entirely  too  numerous,  the  lizards  will 
share  your  couch  at  night,  and  if  you  escape  these  agen- 
cies, you  will  be  tortured  by  peddlers  and  beggars  until 
death  will  be  looked  upon  as  a  kind  surcease  from  trouble. 
Looking  through  your  chamber,  shaking  the  bedclothes, 
etc.,  in  the  search  for  snakes  and  other  disagreeable  in- 
truders is  a  nightly  duty  which  must  not  be  neglected. 
Such  investigations,  unlike  the  search  of  the  women  who 
always  look  for  a  man  under  the  bed  before  retiring,  is 
usually  productive  of  results. 

Our  trip  through  the  island  has  cost  about  one  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  we  consider  the  investment  a  judicious 
one.  The  sights,  the  scenery,  the  experiences  have  im- 
pressed themselves  indelibly  upon  our  minds,  and  in  after 
years  will  provide  food  for  the  pleasantest  reflections. 

As  to  Christianity,  all  the  real  good  the  teachings  of 
the  missionaries  do  is  purely  commercial.  In  China  it 
costs  thirty  thousand  dollars  to  save  one  soul,  a  Chinese 
soul  at  that,  and  it  may  be  a  question  whether  the  im- 
mortal part  of  a  Chinaman  would  not  be  dear  at  a  thou- 
sandth part  of  the  money.  In  Ceylon,  salvation  is  not  so 
costly,  but  still  I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  the  in- 
vestment does  not  pay  a  heavy  rate  of  interest.  The 
native  will  hasten  to  the  missionarv,  and  renounce  Bud- 
dha  if  his  family   is  sick   and  needs  care  and   attention. 


206  WHAT  I  SAW, 

but  as  soon  as  they  recover  and  require  no  further  assist- 
ance he  will  return  to  his  idols.  Good  is  done  in  that 
the  missions  educate  the  heathen,  but  religion  among 
the  barbarians  is  wholly  a  matter  of  trade.  They  seem 
to  keep  a  variety  of  religions  in  reserve,  which  they  can 
put  on  and  take  oif  like  garments,  as  the  occasion  may 
demand.  An  enlightened  citizen  of  Europe  or  the  States 
who  will  come  here  and  live  among  the  natives,  making 
him  or  herself  one  of  them,  suffering  all  the  inconveni- 
ences of  life  in  the  tropics,  should  have  great  confidence 
in  a  reward  in  the  hereafter.  They  will  never  get  it  on 
earth.  Take  the  average  barbarian,  like  the  Chinaman, 
and  an  effort  to  save  him  from  the  middle  of  the  bottom- 
less pit  of  perdition  is  flying  squarely  in  the  face  of  a 
just  Providence. 

So  far,  we  have  enjoyed  the  best  of  health  and  spirits. 
We  find  one  cause  of  complaint,  however,  in  the  neglect 
of  our  friends  at  home.  We  are  now  nearly  one  hundred 
days  out,  and  not  a  line  or  a  paper  have  we  received.  We 
have  not  heard  a  word  from  America,  even  indirectly,  as 
the  newspapers  here  ignore  its  existence. 

We  sail  hence  to-morrow  for  Calcutta,  from  which 
point  my  next  will  be  dated. 


AND  HO W  I  SAW  IT.  207 


XVIII. 

Ceylon  to  Calcutta — A  Xovel  but  Luxurious  Bath — Madras 
AND  THE  Native  PIixdoos — The  Immorality  of  Foreigners  in 
THE  Orient— *One  Reason  why  the  Christian  Missions  are 
not  more  Successful — The  Mouths  of  the  Ganges — Arrival 
AT  Calcutta. 

Calcutta,  India,  Dcceinber  so,  1881. 

In  one  regard  the  Orient  does  not  differ  from  other 
parts  of  the  world.  I  refer  to  the  •penchant  of  steamers 
and  otlier  popular  modes  of  conveyance  for  disregarding 
their  advertised  time.  For  instance,  we  completed  our 
preparations  for  sailing  from  Galle  on  the  7th,  but  were 
detained  until  the  9th.  Point  de  Galle  is  the  place  where 
steamers  from  all  parts  of  the  world  concentrate,  and  it 
thus  becomes  a  distributing  point  for  passengers.  Our  de- 
lay was  occasioned  by  the  non-arrival  of  three  steamers, 
one  from  China,  one  from  Australia,  and  one  from  Eng- 
land, from  each  of  which  we  secured  a  number  of  passen- 
gers for  Madras  and  Calcutta.  The  delay  was  relieved, 
however,  of  its  tediousness  by  a  pleasant  acquaintance 
which  we  formed  in  the  person  of  Louis  T.  Leonourus,  an 
officer  in  the  military  service  of  the  king  of  Siam,  and 
an  intimate  friend  of  the  Siamese  potentate,  having  been 
his  companion  in  boyhood  and  his  "  chum "  at  school. 
From  Mr.  L.  we  learned  much  of  Siam  and  its  people. 
We  were  led  through  his  vivid  pictures  of  the  country 
and  customs  to  regret  that  our  programme  did  not  include 
a  visit  to  that  nation.  The  kingdom  of  Siam  is  one  not 
usually  visited  by  tourists,  although  I  am  informed  that  it 


208  WHAT  I  SAW, 

is  by  no  meaus  deficient  in  attractions.  The  government 
and  the  people  are  kindly  disposed  toward  foreigners,  and 
are  eager  to  adopt  the  manners,  modes,  and  ideas  of  more 
advanced  nations.  The  king  is  said  to  be  a  thorough 
English  scholar,  imbued  with  a  progressiveness  which 
promises  much  for  the  future  of  his  country. 

I  accepted  while  at  Guile  the  invitation  of  Mr,  Leon- 
ourus  to  accompany  him  to  a  native  bath-house,  and  in- 
dulge in  the  luxury  of  a  purely  Oriental  bath.  The  dis- 
tance was  but  a  few  steps  from  the  walls  of  the  city,  and 
we  found  the  bath  house  located  in  the  midst  of  a  cocoa- 
nut  grove.  Entering,  we  found  several  girls  in  waiting. 
Just  think  of  that,  ye  modest  and  coy  Americans !  Beau- 
tiful maidens  as  attendants  in  a  gentleman's  bath !  My 
first  feelings  were  of  well-defined  diffidence,  but  finally  I 
reached  a  conclusion  similar  to  that  arrived  at  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  disrobing  Japanese  w'oman — I  could  stand  it 
if  they  could.  Modesty  is,  after  all,  a  matter  largely  of 
education,  and  it  may  not  be  necessary  for  me  to  say  that 
in  that  regard  the  education  of  the  Cingalese  has  been 
sadly  neglected.  The  bather,  however,  does  not  appear  in 
the  bath  entirely  in  the  purity  of  nature.  He  is  provided 
with  a  square  piece  of  muslin,  which  is  utilized  in  a  man- 
ner best  understood  by  the  mothers  of  small  children. 
Otherwise  the  body  has  no  covering.  Stepping  from  the 
dressing-room  into  the  bath,  you  are  taken  in  charge  by  a 
couple  of  young  women,  who,  with  little  ceremony,  apply 
finely  scented  soap  to  your  body,  fi)llowed  by  an  application 
of  highly  perfumed  cosmetics.  Then  their  deft  and  shapely 
hands  pour  water  over  you,  washing  you  as  thoroughly 
as  a  mother  would  an  infant.  After  an  hour  of  Avashing, 
drying,  and  perfuming,  you  are  returned  to  your  dressing- 
room,  thoroughly  rejuvenated  in  body,  though  perhaps  a 
little  demoralized  and  bewildered  in  mind.     I  could  not 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  209 

help  but  congratulate  myself  that  our  vessel  had  been  de- 
layed. The  luxury  of  a  bath  in  Ceylon  is*  amjjle  recom- 
pense for  any  ordinary  delay. 

On  the  9th  we  were  summoned  on  board  our  steamer, 
the  Pekin,  and  soon  were  steaming  from'  the  harbor,  bid- 
ding farewell  to  the  beautiful  island,  its  pleasant  scenes, 
beautiful  drives,  and^that  delicious  sense  of  rest  which  is 
nowhere  so  thoroughly  enjoyed  as  in  the  spicy  groves  of 
Ceylon.  Barrin'  the  heat,  the  snakes,  the  mosquitoes,  the 
rascally  landlords,  and  a  few  minor  inconveniences,  life 
among  the  Cingalese  would  be  a  continuous  dream  of 
luxury. 

We  passed  up  the  eastern  shore  of  Ceylon,  in  sight  of 
land,  until,  when  we  had  left  the  north-east  point  of  the 
island,  the  southern  point  of  South-eastern  India  appeared 
in  view,  bearing  a  few  points  to  the  larboard. 

In  steaming  up  the  coast  of  India  to  Madras  and  Cal- 
cutta we  passed  the  port  of  Pondicherry,  one  of  the  rem- 
nants of  French  rule  in  the  East.  No  stoppage  was  made, 
as  the  town  is  of  no  great  commercial  importance.  It  is 
situated  on  a  flat  sandy  plain,  near  the  sea,  is  regularly 
laid  out,  and  is  the  center  of  a  considerable  trade  with 
other  points  on  the  Coromandel  coast,  and  also  with  the 
local  ports  of  the  East. 

AVe  arrived  at  Madras  on  the  12th,  and  anchored  about 
two  miles  from  the  shore.  Madras  has  absolutely  no  har- 
bor whatever,  and  there  is  said  to  be  no  other  place  in  the 
world  where  the  surf  beats  with  such  violence  upon  the 
sandy  beach.  A  few  days  before  our  arrival  the  granite 
breakwater  had  been  s^vept  aw^ay  by  a  typhoon,  and  a  ship 
lay  on  the  bottom,  in  our  vicinity,  with  her  masts  project- 
ing above  the  surface — a  warning  to  sailors  of  a  fate  that 
frequently  befalls  vessels  in  that  vicinity.     Travelers  have 

told  of  the  tremendous  surf  at  Madras,  but  no  words  can 

14 


210  WHAT  I  SAW, 

give  an  adequate  idea  of  the  heig;lit  and  vicious  force 
of  the  waves  which  continually  beat  upon  the  shore.  We 
were  so  thoroughly  discouraged  by  the  outlook  that  all 
idea  of  going  ashore  was  dismissed.  The  prospect  of  fur- 
nishing a  perhaps  unjjalatable  lunch  for  the  fishes  of  the 
Sea  of  Bengal  was  just  a  little  too  brilliant.  Consequently, 
we  amused  ourselves  during  the  stay  by  the  scenes  pre- 
sented in  our  immediate  surroundings.  One  of  the  most 
amusing  of  these  was  caused  by  the  efforts  of  the  passen- 
gers to  transfer  themselves  from  the  steamer  to  the  small 
boat  by  which  they  were  transported  to  the  shore.  As 
they  passed  down  the  ladder  from  the  vessel  the  boat 
would  recede,  only  to  come  sweeping  torward  again,  and 
the  would-be  voyager  must  watch  his  chance  or  his  eiforts 
will  result  in  a  salt  water  bath.  It  reminded  me  of  the 
inebriated  individual  who  sought  to  retire  to  his  couch, 
but  was  bewildered  by  the  persistency  of  the  bed  in  avoid- 
ing his  approach,  and  finally  had  to  carefully  calculate  and 
wait  until  it  came  round,  and  jump  for  it. 

Our  vessel  was  surrounded  by  a  myriad  of  native 
boats,  who  eagerly  sought  for  passengers  or  freight  to 
transfer  to  the  shore.  Each  boat  is  rowed  by  ten  natives, 
and  the  officers  of  our  vessel  had  great  difficulty  in  keeping 
them  from  coming  on  board.  They  swarmed  over  the 
sides  like  rats,  and  the  quartermaster  was  kept  busy  driv- 
ing them  back.  For  this  purpose  he  was  armed  with  a 
vicious-looking  whip,  and  he  applied  it  to  their  most  ex- 
posed parts  without  mercy.  The  sight  of  the  officer  skip- 
ping from  point  to  point,  driving  the  poor  devils  back, 
and  their  activity  in  climbing  again  to  the  deck  as  soon  as 
his  back  was  turned,  was  very  amusing.  They  can  climb 
like  cats  and  swim  equal  to  a  fish.  The  voices  of  the 
thousands  in  the  boats  surrounding  our  vessel  produced  a 
veritable  pandemonium,  each  boatman  vociferating  at  the 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  211 

top  of  his  voice,  and  wildly  gesticulating,  but  for  what 
purpose  was  a  mystery.  The  boats  are  about  eighteen 
feet  long,  five  wide,  and  six  deep,  and  are  constructed  of 
bamboo  withes,  instead  of  spikes  and  nails,  to  prevent 
leakage,  and  of  materials  so  light  that  no  amount  of  water 
will  cause  them  to  sink.  The  danger  of  passing  through 
the  surf  is  solely  in  the  boat  overturning,  and  so  expert 
are  the  natives  that  jeopardy  from  this  is  reduced  to  the 
lowest  possible  point.  With  the  writer,  however,  such 
thinffs  are  different.  I  am  a  firm  believer  in  that  first  law 
of  nature,  self-preservation.  So  firmly  is  the  theory  im- 
planted in  my  mental  composition  that  I  turn  with  instinc- 
tive dismay  from  danger  of  any  kind.  I  may  not  be 
really  any  more  afraid  than  other  people,  but  the  antici- 
pation of  accident  is  to  me  worse  than  encountering  it, 
just  as  some  persons  in  passing  along  an  icy  street  suifer 
ten  times  more  from  the  fear  of  falling  than  they  would 
by  really  going  down. 

The  city  of  Madras,  as  viewed  from  our  anchorage, 
had  more  the  appearance  of  an  European  or  American 
city  than  any  we  have  seen.  It  stretches  for  several  miles 
along  the  beach,  and  contains  numerous  structures  of  fine 
appearance.  Large  gardens  or  parks  appear  at  intervals, 
and  provide  the  shade  that  in  this  tropical  climate  is  an 
absolute  necessity.  A  visit  to  the  city  would  doubtless 
have  added  much  to  the  pleasures  of  our  tour.  The  terri- 
tory in  which  ^ladras  is  situated  was  the  first  acquisition 
made  by  the  British  on  the  continent  of  India,  being 
obtained  by  a  grant  in  1639.  The  fort  then  established 
was  besieged  first  in  1702,  and  again  by  the  French  in 
1744,  to  whom  it  was  surrendered  after  a  bombardment 
of  three  days.  Afterward  it  was  restored  to  the  English, 
and  was  again  besieged  by  the  French  in  1758-9.  The 
population  is  estimated  at  four  hundred  thousand. 


212  WHAT  I  SAW, 

We  left  Madras  at  3  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
second  day,  and  once  more  our  steamer  was  headed  for 
Calcutta,  eight  hundred  and  seventy  miles  distant,  after 
taking  on  board  a  number  of  passengers  and  a  large 
amount  of  indigo  and  cotton,  the  latter  seemingly  of  poor 
quality.  Some  one  brought  on  board  a  paper  of  Decem- 
ber 14th,  from  which  we  learned  that  Postmaster-general 
James  had  resigned.  This  little  scrap  of  unimportant 
information  was  welcomed  with  enthusiasm  as  being  the 
first  we  had  received  since  the  20th  day  of  September,  on 
which  date  we  sailed  from  San  Francisco.  We  had  almost 
concluded  that  some  violent  agitation  of  mundane  affairs 
had  lopped  off  the  other  hemisphere  and  that  America 
had  ceased  to  exist  as  a  part  of  this  planet.  This  little 
newspaper,  which  wandered  into  our  hands  on  board  a 
steamer  in  the  Sea  of  Bengal,  gave  us  a  Avelcome  assurance 
that  other  Americans  besides  ourselves  continued  to  live. 
I  hope  none  of  my  readers  will  ever  experience  the  ex- 
treme anxiety  that  results  from  three  months  of  complete 
isolation  from  home,  particularly  at  a  time  when  they 
know  that  stirring  events  are  in  progress. 

The  good  fortune  which  has  ever  attended  us  in  our 
travels  continued  through  the  often  tempestuous  Sea  of 
Bengal.  The  water  was  as  smooth  as  a  mirror,  and  at 
night  the  stars  shone  with  a  brilliancy  unknown  outside 
the  tropics.  They  seem  to  stand  out  from  the  firmament, 
and  glitter  and  twinkle  through  the  pure  atmosphere  like 
celestial  lamps.  The  "Southern  Cross"  is  visible  about 
4  o'clock  in  the  morning,  but  it  would  have  required  a 
much  more  interesting  view  than  it  provides  to  arouse  us 
from  our  slumbers  at  an  hour  when  sleep  is  the  sweetest. 
The  routine  on  shipboard  became  a  little  monotonous. 
We  had  coffee  brought  to  our  room  before  we  rose,  break- 
fast at  9,  lunch  at  1,  dinner  at  6,  and  tea  at  9.     On  the 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  213 

table  we  had  American  ham  and  butter.  This  is  no 
exception  to  the  rule  throughout  the  East,  as  these  two 
articles  of  American  production  are  in  universal  demand. 
Who  knows  but  in  our  wanderings  in  the  Orient  we  have 
unconsciously  aided  in  consuming  the  product  of  a  pon- 
derous Ohio  porker?  We  have  frequently  found  pleasure 
in  the  conceit,  and  fancied  that  the  flavor  of  Buckeye  corn 
could  be  distinguished  in  the  meat.  We  do  not  plead 
guilty  to  the  charge  of  homesickness,  but  still  our  thoughts 
will  wander  back  over  the  thousands  of  miles  and  linger 
fondly  with  the  friends  and  familiar  scenes  of  home. 

In  one  of  my  letters,  perhaps  that  written  during  the 
voyage  from  Hong  Kong  to  Singapore,  I  had  occasion  to 
speak  of  the  disagreeable  traits  that  distinguish  English 
officials,  and  their  universal  indulgence  in  practices  that 
in  America  would  exclude  them  from  good  society.  On 
the  trip  from  Galle  to  this  place  our  passenger  list  was 
composed  largely  of  English  attaches  of  the  British  Gov- 
ernment of  India.  Bluster,  brag,  and  ignorance  are  in- 
separable from  these  official  barnacles,  and  they  omit  no 
opportunity  to  exhibit  their  peculiarities  in. these  regards. 
It  is,  however,  their  extreme  immorality  and  disgusting 
personal  habits  that  give  decent  people  the  greatest  dis- 
taste for  their  companionship.  The  licentious  habits  of 
the  foreigners,  particularly  the  English,  is  a  burning  dis- 
grace throughout  the  East.  So  universal  is  this  species  of 
debauchery  that  the  half-breed  children  compose  a  limited 
per  cent  of  the  population.  There  is  no  surmise,  no  ex- 
aggeration about  this.  I  mean  just  what  I  say,  and  speak 
from  observation.  Some  of  the  ministers  of  the  English 
Church  whom  we  met  on  shipboard  are  a  disgrace  to  the 
name,  and  a  sad  reflection  upon  the  Christian  Church. 
This,  of  course,  does  not  include  all,  as  there  are  excep- 
tions to  all  general  rules.     We  had  on  board  the  vessel 


214  WHAT  1  SAW, 

from  Hong  Kong  to  Ceylon  a  solemn-visaged  parson,  who, 
bedecked  with  surplice  and  all  the  other  paraphernalia  of 
his    profession,    conducted    religious   services   with   much 
unction ;  yet  in  one  hour  after  that  "  holy  man  of  God " 
was  beastly  drunk,  reeling  through  the  cabin  and  disgust- 
ing every  decent  person  on  board  with  his  maudlin  con- 
duct.    In   a  conversation   afterward  I  told  him  in  plain 
f"  I    lansuaffe   that   we   in    America   would   not   tolerate   such 
K      actions.     He  expressed  surprise,  and  seemed  to  think  he 
/)     I        had  been  guilty  of  nothing  inconsistent  with  his  position 
i      f''^        as  a  minister.     I  can    not  see  how  the   missionaries  can 
■  r  accomplish  much  good  among  the  natives  when  such  im- 

"   V  .  morality  as  that  I  have  spoken  of  is  persistently  flaunted 

,\^  before  them.  If  the  Christian  religion  is  to  progress  and 
secure  a  firm  footing  among  the  people  of  the  Orient  it 
must  present  some  practical,  tangible  good — exhibit  a 
better  rule  of  life  and  the  good  flowing  from  it.  There  is 
little  to  hope  for  so  long  as  the  teachings  of  the  mission- 
aries are  met  by  practices  on  the  part  of  those  to  whom 
the  natives  naturally  look  for  an  exemplification  of  its 
beneficence  that  would  disgrace  the  harem  of  a  Fiji 
Islander.  Do  not  understand  me  as  speaking  of  the  mis- 
sionaries. I  believe  that,  as  an  almost  universal  rule,  they 
are  faithful  and  conscientious  workers,  who  aim  to  teach 
by  example  as  well  as  precept.  I  speak  of  the  masses  of 
the  foreigners  whom  business  has  drawn  to  the  Orient,  and 
%  particularly  of  the  British  officials,  not  even  excepting  my 
.  c  '  own  countrymen.  Drunkenness  and  debauchery  among 
*  ^  these  is  the  rule,  and  sobriety   and  virtue  the  exception 

f  among  the   male  portion.     They  need   missionaries  more 

than  the  natives.  Speaking  of  the  ministers  of  the  En- 
glish Church,  I  have  not  seen  many  in  the  East  for  whose 
religion  I  would  give  a  pinch  of  stale  snuff*.  In  all  the 
English  churches  that  we  have  seen  in  our  travels,  there 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  215 

is  much  more  attention  paid  to  the  mummery  of  the  ritual 
than  to  the  practical  features  of  religion,  and  other  evi- 
dences given  that  their  pretenses  are  more  conspicuous 
than  their  practices. 

I  have  not  the  least  doubt  that  some  of  my  good 
friends  will  take  serious  issue  with  me  on  the  points  I 
have  named,  but  I  beg  them  to  remember  that  I  am  here, 
and  daily  receive  occular  evidence  of  the  truth  of  what  I 
have  been  saying.  It  may  be  that  I  am  too  frank  and 
outspoken  regarding  these  evils,  but  I  speak  of  them  as 
they  are.  For  the  existence  of  the  pernicious  practices, 
the  people  are  at  fault,  but  I  would  be  to  blame  if  I 
sought  to  hide  their  offenses  when  seclusion  would  but 
encourage  them,  or  to  excuse  their  shortcomings  when  ex- 
cuses can  not  legitimately  be  found. 

On  the  18th  we  entered  the  mouth  of  the  Hoogly, 
about  one  hundred  miles  below  Calcutta,  which  at  its 
entrance  is  so  wide  that  the  shores  can  not  be  seen.  The 
Hoogly  is  one  of  the  numerous  outlets  of  the  great  Gan- 
ges. The  Ganges,  at  a  distance  of  perhaps  two  hundred 
miles  from  the  bay,  divides  into  innumerable  streams, 
which  reach  the  sea  by  different  channels.  Of  these  the 
•Hoogly  is  the  most  western  and  the  largest.  The  princi- 
pal outlet  is  about  two  hundred  miles  east  of  the  Hoogly, 
and  retains  the  name  of  the  Ganges.  The  passage  up  to 
Calcutta  by  large  steamers  must  be  made  upon  the  flood 
tide,  which,  much  to  my  surprise,  runs  at  the  rate  of  about 
two  miles  an  hour.  In  the  typhoon  season  the  river  is 
said  to  be  extremely  dangerous.  Even  under  ordinary 
circumstances  the  least  mistake  on  the  part  of  the  pilot 
would  result  in  the  loss  of  a  vessel.  The  appearance  was 
to  me  not  unlike  the  Mississippi  below  New  Orleans. 
After  a  few  miles  low  shores  appeared  on  either  hand. 
These  are  subject  at  all  seasons  to  complete  inundation, 


216  WHAT  I  SAW, 

and  for  this  reason  have  never  been  cultivated.  It  wouhl 
be  difficult  to  conceive  any  thing  more  desolate  than  these 
wastes  of  jungle  and  accumulated  debris  which  stretch  for 
miles  on  either  shore.  They  are  strewn  with  the  bodies 
of  animals,  and  often  of  humans,  which  are  left  undis- 
turbed to  rot  in  the  burning  sun  or  be  carried  out  to  sea 
by  the  next  inundation.  The  channel  changes  by  the 
shifting  alluvia  almost  weekly,  and  the  pilot  must  know 
by  the  appearance  of  the  water  where  the  vessel  can  pass 
with  safety.  They  receive  a  princely  compensation,  being 
paid  ten  thousand  dollars  each  2)er  year.  Before  reaching 
Calcutta,  the  river  shrinks  to  the  width  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  the  barren  shores  give  way  to  the  most  luxuri- 
ant vegetation. 

The  decrease  in  the  temperature  is  very  noticeable 
when  compared  with  Ceylon.  On  the  morning  after  our 
arrival,  the  mercury  was  down  to  sixty-five  degrees,  with 
a  cool,  bracing  bi'eeze  that  is  very  suggestive  of  comfort. 
The  sun  now  rises  several  degrees  to  the  south  of  us,  and 
we  begin  to  realize  that  we  have  left  the  equator,  with  its 
extreme  and  enervating  heat,  behind.  Some  writers  speak 
of  the  extreme  torridity  of  Calcutta,  but  we  have  ex- 
perienced none  of  it  so  far.  We  almost  fail  to  remember; 
however,  that  it  is  now  midwinter.  I  suppose,  therefore, 
that  the  heat  here  six  months  hence  must  be  Intense.  At 
2  o'clock  In  the  afternoon* we  set  foot  upon  the  soil  of 
India  In  the  great  city  of  Calcutta.  As  I  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  mail  this  letter  to-day,  I  must  defer  my  impres- 
sions of  the  city,  its  people,  and  appearance  until  my  next. 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  217 


XIX. 

In  the  Indian  Metropolis — The  Impression  of  England  upon  its 
Architecture — Visit  to  the  Botanical  and  Zoological  Gar- 
dens— The  Native  City — Palace  of  the  King  of  Oude — The 
Temples — Caste — A  Pleasant  Evening. 

Calcutta,  India,  December  21,  1881. 

Our  first  impression  of  tliis  metropolis  of  the  East 
Indies  was  one  of  disappointment.  From  the  hour  when 
I,  as  a  boy,  conned  with  open-eyed  wonder  the  florid 
descriptions  of  travels  in  the  East  Indies,  I  have  been  led 
to  look  upon  Calcutta,  "The  City  of  Palaces,"  as  the  one 
spot  where  the  beautiful  in  nature  and  the  magnificent  in 
art  harmoniously  blended.  The  government  buildings  in 
Calcutta  are  substantial,  numerous,  and  extensive,  but  the 
style  of  architecture  lacks  that  grandeur  which  would 
satisfy  the  eye  and  sustain  its  reputation  for  beauty.  The 
dwellings  of  the  foreign  representatives  have  no  preten- 
tious display  of  either  architectural  taste  or  skill;  they 
present  a  curious  and  somewhat  iucongruous  combination 
of  English  solidity  and  Oriental  ornamentation.  There  is 
that  peculiarity  about  our  British  cousins  which  no  extent 
of  residence  abroad  can  disturb  in  the  slightest  degree.  It 
is  best  expressed  by  the  word  "solid."  This  is  carried 
into  every  condition  and  amidst  all  surroundings.  It  is 
exhibited  in  the  boots  they  wear,  in  the  food  they  eat,  the 
machinery  they  construct,  and  the  houses  they  build. 
Beauty,  convenience,  and  often  utility,  are  sacrificed  to  the 
universal  idea  of  solidity,  as   if  they  were   engaged   in  a 


218  WHAT  I  SAW, 

constant  contest  with  the  elements  of  destruction.  The 
result  is  the  production  of  conveniences  and  necessaries 
that  are  cumbersome,  and,  as  we  Yankees  would  say, 
"  unhandy."  There  is  a  variety  in  the  architecture  of  the 
native  dwellings  that  certainly  relieves  them  from  any 
appearance  of  monotony.  The  palatial  houses  of  the 
wealthy  Baboos  are  models  of  light  and  airy  but  stately 
beauty.  There  is  between  these  and  the  miserable  huts 
of  the  lower  caste  of  natives  a  hiatus  that  becomes  notice- 
able at  a  glance.  In  India  there  does  not  seem  to  be  any 
middle  classes.  All  are  either  immensely  rich  or  miserably 
poor.  There  has  been  adopted  by  the  government  and 
the  wealthier  classes  a  kind  of  stucco  in  the  ornamentation 
of  buildings  that,  however  beautiful  it  may  be  when  first 
completed,  turns  in  time  to  a  dingy  yellow,  suggestive  of 
uncleanness. 

The  appearance  of  the  city  on  approaching  by  the  river 
is  very  fine,  but,  like  many  others,  a  closer  inspection  brings 
to  light  some  points  that  mar  its  symmetrical  beauty.  I  do 
not  wish  to  be  understood  as  descrying  the  recognized 
attractiveness  of  the  East  Indian  metropolis  when  I  say 
that  it  does  not  wholly  meet  the  ideal  which  I  had  formed. 
It  stretches  along  the  river  about  seven  miles,  and  has  an 
average  width  of  about  two  miles  and  a  half.  The  quay 
is  handsome  and  substantial  in  appearance,  extending  for 
perhaps  three  miles  along  the  front  of  the  city,  and  is  pro- 
vided with  twenty-five  or  thirty  landing-places,  or  "  ghauts," 
as  they  are  called  here.  The  river  is  over  a  mile  in  width, 
and  is  at  all  times  filled  with  shipping  from  every  part 
of  the  world.  The  suburbs  are  disfigured  by  countless 
numbers  of  extensive  brick-yards.  In  response  to  an  ex- 
pression of  wonderment  regarding  the  disposition  made 
of  such  a  vast  quantity  of  material,  I  was  told  that  sand 
for  building  purposes  was  very  difficult  to  obtain,  and  that 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  219 

the  bricks  were  pulverized  after  being  burned,  to  provide 
this  very  necessary  commodity.  Here,  as  elsewhere  in  the 
Orient,  the  European  population  is  confined  to  certain 
parts  of  the  city,  the  foreign  section  being  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Hoogly,  and  the  native  city  on  the  west — the  two 
being  connected  by  the  finest  pontoon  bridge  in  the  world. 
In  Calcutta,  however,  such  isolation  is  voluntary,  and  not, 
as  in  Chinese  and  Japanese  cities,  the  result  of  govern- 
mental decree. 

Our  first  experience  of  sight-seeing  in  Calcutta  was  a 
visit  to  the  Botanical  Gardens,  a  pleasant  drive  of  about 
six  miles.     It  would  be  useless  for  me   to  attempt  a  de- 
scription of   this  beautiful  spot,  where  art  has  vied  with 
nature   in   the   production  and  display  of  floral    beauties. 
The  strangest  and  most  attractive  sight  was  the  celebrated 
banyan   tree,  and   an   hour   was  pleasantly  and   profitably 
devoted  to  an  examination   of  it.     Every  schoolboy  has 
read  of  the  peculiar  tree,  and  wonderingly  studied  every 
detail  of  the  engraving  which  embellished  his  geography. 
In  this  instance  the  reality  exceeds  previous  impressions. 
This  particular  tree  is  quite  large  at  the  main   stem,  and 
although   not  to  exceed  fifty  feet  in   height,  it  covers  an 
area  of  fully  an  acre  and  a  half,  and  can  protect  with  its 
shade  not  less  than  two  thousand  people.     About  thirty 
feet  from  the  ground  it  sends  out  long  lateral  branches. 
From   these,  branches   extend  downward  and    take    root 
in  the  earth,  growing  until  in  this  tree  they  form  trunks 
fully   two   feet   in   diameter.      This  is   continued  without 
limit,  the  perpendicular  branches  growing  smaller  as  they 
approach  the  circumference,  until  the  last,  just  taking  root 
in  the  soil,  is  no  thicker  than  a  pipe-stem.      To  a  person 
standing  beneath  its  shade  the  tree  has  the  appearance  of 
a   grove,  or  a  hall  where  the  roof  is   supported   by  nu- 
merous columns. 


220  WHAT  I  SAW, 

In  going  to  and  returning  from  the  Botanical  Gardens 
we  passed  through  the  native  part  of  the  city,  where  were 
seen  thousands  of  the  Simon-pure  Hindoos  of  all  the  dif- 
ferent castes.  All  are  nearly  black  in  skin,  and  of  a  sim- 
ilar somberness  in  habits.  One  feeling  is  universal  among 
natives  of  every  caste.  All  despise  the  English,  with  a  most 
unholy  hatred.  Even  the  educated  classes,  who  have  grown 
wealthy  through  generations  of  successful  trade  with  foreign- 
ers, keep  hidden  away  in  the  recesses  of  their  hearts  a  spark 
of  treachery,  which  a  breath  of  hope  for  success  would 
kindle  into  a  flame  of  attempted  revolution.  This  can  only 
be  accounted  for  by  the  inherent  savagery  of  the  Hindoo 
nature — a  people  with  whom  idolatry,  superstition,  and  the 
worst  varieties  of  fanaticism  flourish  with  a  luxuriance 
almost  unknown  elsewhere — a  people  who  encourage,  under 
the  specious  guise  of  an  idolatrous  religion,  every  species 
of  outrage  against  nature.  They  complain  that  the  En- 
glish are  hard  masters.  That  may  be,  to  a  limited  extent, 
but  they  are  not  so  burdensome  as  would  be  their  own 
unrestrained  penchant  for  brutality.  The  people  who 
butchered  the  women  and  little  children  at  Cawnpore  and 
Futtehghur  should  be  slow  to  criticize  the  necessary  re- 
pressive measures  of  the  government  that  brought  to  the 
country  the  first  ray  of  enlightenment  that  ever  penetrated 
the  benighted  land.  English  rule  in  India  has  proven  to 
the  natives  and  to  the  world  an  unalloyed  blessing. 

Our  visit  was  made  to  include  the  Zoological  Gardens, 
which  are  said  to  be  the  most  extensive  and  best  supplied 
with  the  wonders  of  the  animal  kingdom  in  the  world. 
They  cover  some  ten  acres,  and  are  well  shaded  with  trop- 
ical trees  and  plants.  As  may  well  be  supposed,  the  va- 
riety of  beasts,  birds,  and  reptiles  is  infinite.  The  speci- 
mens of  tropical  animals  are  much  finer  than  those  seen 
in  the  States.     We  gazed  with  positive  awe  upon  a  mag- 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  221 

nificent  specimen  of  the  Bengal  tiger,  which  seemed  to  be 
more  than  twice  as  kirge  and  ferocious  as  any  we  had  be- 
fore seen.  The  chameleon,  that  wonderful  variety  of  the 
genus  lizard,  which  has  the  faculty  of  changing  its  color 
quicker  than  a  postmaster  can  his  politics,  was  one  among 
the  many  curious  reptiles  seen.  This  quality  is  simply 
one  of  its  means  of  defense,  as  when  in  danger  it  makes 
its  color  correspond  to  the  grass,  or  rock,  or  earth,  as  the 
case  may  be,  for  the  purpose  of  escaping  observation. 
This,  at  least,  is  the  opinion  of  some  naturalists,  though 
others  assert  that  the  changes  are  independent  of  any  def- 
inite purpose,  and  beyond  the  control  of  the  creature.  The 
collection  of  elephants  would  turn  Barnum  or  Forepaugh 
green  with  envy.  None  of  their  huge  dimensions  are 
ever  seen  in  America.  Now,  some  persons,  more  venture- 
some-, I  think,  than  wise,  would  have  sought  these  animals 
in  their  native  jungles,  where  the  tigers,  elephants,  lions, 
and  similar  creatures  render  the  experiences  of  visitors 
devoid  of  monotony.  AYith  me  it  was  different.  I  was 
fully  satisfied  to  study  them  where  they  were  under  the 
restraint  of  man.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  is  nothing 
which,  according  to  my  ideas,  lends  more  enchantment  to 
a  Ijloodthirsty  tiger  or  other  similar  beast  than  the  iron 
bars  which  securely  restrain  his  predisposition  to  mischief. 
It  certainly  is  much  more  pleasant  to  visit  the  Zoological 
Gardens  of  Calcutta  and  study  the  animals  collectively, 
beneath  the  umbrageous  trees,  than  to  seek  them  in  detail, 
where  they  are  found  all  too  soon  for  the  comfort  or  safety 
of  the  venturesome  interloper. 

The  means  of  conveyance  in  Calcutta  are  not  as  rapid 
or  comfortable  as  in  some  cities  we  have  been.  Our  car- 
riage was  drawn  by  a  couple  of  measly  little  ponies,  which 
more  than  once  I  was  tempted  to  place  in  my  pocket  and 
walk  off  with.     I  would  readily  exchange  them  for  the 


222  WHA  T  I  SA  W, 

• 

tireless  coolies  M'ho,  but  a  few  weeks  since,  rattled  us 
through  the  streets  of  Yeddo  and  Yokohama. 

We  had  a  fine  view  of  the  palace  of  the  king  of 
Oude — from  the  outside,  no  one  being  permitted  to  enter 
except  on  one  specified  day  in  each  year.  This  sprig  of 
Indian  royalty  was  deposed  by  the  British  after  the  sup- 
pression of  the  mutiny  of  1857,  and,  retaining  his  high- 
sounding  titles  and  retainers  to  the  number  of  about  one 
thousand,  is  compelled  to  live  at  Calcutta  under  the  sur- 
veillance of  the  British.  He  has  an  elegant  palace,  located 
on  the  banks  of  the  Hoogly,  where  he  imitates,  so  far  as 
his  great  wealth  and  pension  of  one  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars per  year  will  permit,  the  magnificence  of  Oriental  roy- 
alty. His  residence,  with  the  grounds  surrounding,  is  a 
miniature  kingdom,  and  here  the  deposed  potentate  plays 
king,  surrounded  by  all  the  luxurious  magnificence  which 
money  will  procure.  We  would  have  liked  much  to  inspect 
his  palace,  but  of  course  were  unable  to  do  so.  When  next 
I  make  the  circumnavigatory  tour  I  want  to  be  an  ex- 
President  or  something  else  that  will  give  me  prestige 
among  the  people  of  the  East,  and  serve  as  an  open  ses- 
ame to  the  many  places  of  interest  that  are  sedulously 
sealed  against  the  uninfluential  private  citizen. 

The  citadel  of  Calcutta,  or,  as  it  is  better  known.  Fort 
William,  is  perhaps  the  largest  and  most  complete  fortifi- 
cation in  the  world,  requiring  no  less  than  ten  thousand 
men  to  fully  garrison  it.  In  company  with  a  gentleman 
whose  acquaintance  we  formed  on  shipboard,  we  visited 
the  fortress,  and  spent  a  pleasant  hour  examining  its  many 
points  of  attraction. 

In  India,  as  elsewhere  in  the  East,  gods  are  the  princi- 
pal product.  It  has  been  estimated  that  in  India  there  are 
no  less  than  three  hundred  and  forty  million,  or  nearly  two 
gods  to   every   man,  woman,   and  child    in    the  country. 


AND  HO  W  1  SA  W  IT.  223 

Just  in  what  manner  this  conclusion  was  reached  I  am 
unable  to  say.  It  is  not  likely  that  any  one,  even  blessed 
with  a  phenomenal  fondness  for  statistics,  ever  counted 
them.  All  that  I  know  is  that  they  are  very  abundant, 
and  will  compare  favorably  in  hideousness  with  those  of 
China  and  Japan.  The  temples  of  Calcutta  are  divided 
between  the  Buddhists  and  Brahmins,  with  a  predomi- 
nance of  the  latter.  From  one  of  these,  Khali  Ghaut,  by 
some  process  of  etymological  jugglery,  the  city  derives  its 
name.  The  temple  is  located  in  the  midst  of  an  inferior 
suburb,  and  is  attractive  mainly  by  contrast  with  its  sur- 
roundings. There  are  really  three  structures,  discon- 
nected, and  with  floors  about  eight  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  street.  The  principal  edifice  is  a  square  building, 
surmounted  by  a  dome,  which  extends  beyond  the  walls 
and  is  supported  by  outside  columns.  It  has  no  windows, 
and  the  light  is  admitted  through  small  doors  on  three 
sides.  Of  the  other  two  buildings,  one  is  circular  and  the 
other  oblong.  The  circular  edifice  is  the  hall  of  sacrifice, 
from  which  all  but  Brahmin  priests  are  rigidly  excluded. 
The  square  building  contains  the  shrine  of  the  goddess 
Kali,  and  no  profane  feet  are  permitted  to  cross  the  thresh- 
old. The  oblong  building  is  devoted  to  the  use  of  the 
worshipers,  from  which  they  i)ay  their  devotions  to  the 
divinity  on  the  right  hand,  and  Avitness  the  sacrifices  on 
the  left.  Formerly,  it  is  said,  the  sacrifices  were  human, 
but  now  they  are  confined  to  bullocks  and  goats.  Kali  is 
the  Brahmin  goddess  of  evil,  from  Avhich  is  supposed  to 
emanate  all  the  trials,  tribulations,  and  sufferings  of  the 
people.  By  those  who  have  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  look- 
ing upon  the  figure  it  is  described  as  being  a  combination 
of  every  thing  that  is  hideous  and  outre.  It  is  ot  human 
proportions  but  scarcely  of  human  shape.  It  is  black, 
and  has  three  immense,  glaring  red  eyes,  a  broad  golden 


224  •  WHA  T  I  SA  W, 

or  brass  tongue,  tipped  with  black,  which  projects  from  a 
distended  mouth  down  to  the  waist,  and  is  dripping  with 
blood.  The  arms  are  greatly  exaggerated.  The  loft  hand 
holds  the  rej)resentation  of  a  giant's  head,  Avhllc  in  the 
right  is  grasped  the  sword,  covered  with  blood,  with  wdiich 
the  head  is  supposed  to  have  been  severed. 

In  Calcutta  there  is  a  diversity  of  religion  found,  per- 
ha|)s,  nowhere  on  earth  to  an  equal  extent.  AVhile  the 
Brahmin  idolatry  predominates,  every  theory  of  belief 
known  to  the  civilized  and  uncivilized  world  exists.  The 
followers  of  Buddha,  Mahomet,  Brahma,  and  Christ  vie 
with  each  other  in  their  devotions,  and  mingle  daily  and 
hourly  In  pleasant  business  communications,  while  the  In- 
numerable devotees  of  minor  isms  follow  undisturbed  the 
bent  of  their  inclinations. 

There  is  not  that  2)eace  and  quietude  to  be  found  in 
Calcutta  at  night  that  is  usually  considered  conducive  to 
refreshing  slumber.  About  midnight,  after  we  had  fallen 
into  a  profound  sleep,  we  were  suddenly  aroused  by  a  con- 
tinued succession  of  the  most  startling  sounds  which  ear 
ever  experienced.  Cries  almost  human,  mingled  with 
short  yelps  and  prolonged  howls,  and  for  a  moment  caused 
our  hearts  to  throb  violently  with  the  apprehension  that, 
perhaps,  the  wild  animals  of  the  Indian  jungles  had  united 
in  a  raid  upon  humanity,  and  were  determined  to  drive  us 
from  the  country.  Inquiry  reassured  us,  however,  and  we 
found  that  the  noises  proceeded  from  the  troops  of  jackals 
that  roam  undisturbed  through  the  streets  of  the  city  at 
night,  and  make  themselves  useful  by  acting  as  scavengers. 
They  are  never  molested,  and  in  return  never  disturb  the 
people  or  live  domestic  animals.  At  daylight  they  are  suc- 
ceeded in  their  duties  as  scavengers  by  crows,  kites,  and 
adjutants.  The  crows  and  the  kites  are  exceedingly  noisy, 
and  most  inveterate  thieves  as  well.     They  are  not  content 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  225 

with  such  offal  as  they  may  find  in  the  streets,  but  will 
penetrate  the  houses,  and  carry  off  any  thing  of  an  edible 
character  that  they  can  reach.  The  adjutant  is  a  species 
of  stork,  very  dignified,  standing  for  hours  upon  one  foot, 
as  silent  and  motionless  as  a  statue.  They  are  nearly  as 
tall  as  a  man,  and  are  a  feature  of  Calcutta  that  the  trav- 
eler can  not  overlook,  even  if  he  desires  to.  They  are  to 
be  met  with  every  few  steps  in  the  suburbs,  and  are  amus- 
ing in  their  solemn  dignity. 

Bordering  on  the  river  below  the  Government  House 
is  the  fashionable  drive  of  Calcutta,  and  the  scene  there 
presented  in  the  cool  of  the  evening,  is  probably  not 
equaled  elsewhere  on  earth  for  novelty.  The  crowd  which 
throngs  the  drive  is  thoroughly  cosmopolitan,  as  are  also 
the  vehicles.  Alongside  the  gay  European  turnout,  with 
its  liveried  coachman  and  outriders,  moves  the  unpretend- 
ing gharry  or  the  native  bullock  cart.  The  scene  is  one 
of  kaleidoscopic  variety,  such  as  can  be  seen,  perhaps, 
only  in  India. 

The  eastern  part  of  the  city  is  known  as  Chowringee, 
where  are  the  residences  of  the  European  merchants  and 
those  connected  with  the  civil  or  military  service.  The 
dwellings,  while  extensive  and  substantial,  do  not  reach  my 
conception  of  palaces,  and  I  can  not  but  think  the  term, 
when  applied  to  the  dwellings  of  the  wealthy  residents  of 
Calcutta,  is  a  ridiculous  misnomer.  The  grounds  are 
elegant,  and  kind  nature  is  greatly  assisted  by  careful  and 
artistic  cultivation.  The  dwellings  are  isolated,  and  their 
extensive  and  tasteful  surroundings  present  features  of  rare 
attractiveness. 

The  water  supply  of  the  city  is  drawn  from  immense 
tanks,  some  two  hundred  feet  square,  and  sunk  to  a  level 
with  the  ground.  They  are  also  used  by  the  natives  to 
wash  their  clothes  in  and  as  gigantic  bath  tubs.     It  may 

15 


226  WHAT  I  SAW, 

be  that  I  am  over-sensitive  about  such  things,  but  after 
witnessing  these  operations  I  acquired  a  prejudice  against 
the  water  in  Calcutta. 

The  manner  of  sprinkling  the  streets  is  one  that  might 
be  called  primitively  Oriental.  The  waterman,  instead  of 
providing  himself  with  a  sprinkling  cart,  carries  on  his 
shoulder  a  goat  skin  filled  with  water,  and  distributes  the 
aqueous  fluid  much  as  did  an  old-time  farmer  the  grain  in 
sowing. 

A  strange  fact  I  noticed  among  the  European  residents 
of  India.  Although  the  English  possession  of  the  country- 
dates  back  about  two  hundred  years,  the  visitor  finds 
very  few  Europeans  who  were  born  in  India,  and  a  Euro- 
pean child  whose  parents  were  natives  of  India  is  a 
rarity.  The  reason  of  this  is  that  but  few  European  resi- 
dents come  to  this  country  with  the  intention  of  remaining 
permanently,  and,  although  their  sojourn  may  be  extended 
Into  many  years,  they  usually  return  to  spend  their  latter 
days  In  Europe.  All,  or  nearly  all,  the  children  of 
Europeans  are  sent  home  to  be  educated,  and  many  of 
them  never  see  India  again. 

The  devices  for  escaping  the  effects  of  the  extreme  heat 
are  multifarious.  In  the  hot  season  all  the  business  is 
crowded  into  the  early  hours  of  the  morning,  and  during 
the  heat  of  the  day  but  little  activity  is  seen.  An  efiective 
device  Is  the  punka,  to  which  Americans  are  not  entire 
strangers.  It  is  simply  a  large  fan,  or,  if  the  room  to  be 
cooled  is  large  enough,  a  series  of  fans,  each  suspended 
from  the  celling,  and  all  connected  by  a  cord,  and  swung 
back  and  forth  by  a  coolie  stationed  In  the  anteroom. 
The  same  means  are  adopted  to  agitate  the  stagnant  atmos- 
phere in  the  churches  and  public  halls,  and  during  the  ex- 
tremely hot  weather  they  are  used  in  the  chambers.  It  may 
be  that  America  borrowed  the  idea  of  India,  but  I  have 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  227 

frequently  seen  this  scheme  for  securing  cool  air  in  opera- 
tion at  home.  There  they  are  used  largely  to  economize 
labor,  by  increasing  the  size  of  the  indispensable  fan  and 
placing  its  operation  in  the  hands  of  one  person.  Here, 
however,  the  punkas  are  an  absolute  necessity,  as  in  some 
parts  of  India  the  temperature  in  the  shade  rises  to  one 
hundred  and  thirty  degrees  during  the  day,  and  does  not 
fall  below  one  hundred  degrees  at  night.  To  one  not 
acquainted  with  the  geographical  position  of  India,  it  may 
be  surprising  to  learn  that  the  heat  increases  as  the 
traveler  progresses  northward.  The  reason  for  this  is 
found  in  the  fact  that  a  large  part  of  the  countiy  is  a 
comparatively  narrow  peninsula,  and  other  portions  are 
contiguous  to  the  sea.  These  sections  receive  the  benefit 
of  the  breezes  that  blow  from  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  or  the 
Arabian  Sea.  In  Northern  India,  however,  there  are  no 
sea  breezes,  and  the  blistering  heat  of  the  sun  is  felt  in  all 
its  intensity. 

Among  the  natives  of  India  there  are  positively  no 
social  relations,  nor  can  there  be  so  long  as  the  weaker 
sex  is  looked  upon  and  treated  as  inferior  beings,  crea- 
tures created  to  minister  to  the  physical  wants  of  man. 
Another  influence  that  has  a  tendency  to  destroy  all  social 
feelings  is  caste.  This  word  is  often  used  in  America 
to  distinguish  the  petty  and  largely  imaginary  differences 
that  separate  the  different  grades  of  society,  but  the  Amer- 
ican who  has  never  visited  India  or  otherwise  studied 
the  peculiarities  of  the  Hindoos,  can  have  no  idea  of  its 
full  force  and  extent.  In  America  it  is  but  an  ill  de- 
fined idea,  a  silly  conceit,  but  here  it  is  an  immutable  law. 
According  to  the  Laios  of  Menu,  a  work  supposed  to  have 
been  compiled  a  thousand  years  before  the  Christian  era, 
Hindoo  society  is  divided  into  four  principal  classes:  1. 
The  Brahmins,  who  are  said  to  have  emanated  from  the 


228  WHAT  I  SAW, 

head  or  mouth  of  Brahma,  the  Creator.  They  are  the 
chief  of  all  human  beings,  the  leaders  and  instructors  of 
men.  A  Brahmin  must  be  treated  with  the  most  profound 
respect,  even  by  kings;  his  life  and  person  are  protected 
bv  the  severest  laws  in  the  world,  and  by  promises  of 
endless  punishment  in  the  life  to  come.  2.  The  second 
class,  the  Kshatryas,  who  sprang  from  the  shoulders  and 
arms  of  Brahma,  are  the  military  class.  3.  The  third 
class,  the  Vaishyas,  sprang  from  the  thighs  or  loins  of 
Brahma,  and  are  the  mercantile  class,  or  the  men  of  busi- 
ness. 4.  The  fourth  class,  the  Sudras,  sprang  from  the 
feet  of  Brahma.  They  are  the  servile  class,  and  act  as 
servants  for  the  other  classes.  They  do  not  aspire  to  any 
dignities  or  privileges ;  they  can  not  acquire  property  nor 
knowledge  by  reading.  These  are  the  laws  of  caste  as 
originally  laid  down  in  the  decrees  of  Brahmism,  but  the 
lower  three  classes  have  been  subdivided  until  I  much 
doubt  whether  the  lines  of  demarkation  are  in  all  cases 
clearly  drawn.  The  punishment  for  transgressing  the  laws 
of  caste  are  very  severe.  Any  person  eating  or  drinking 
with  persons  of  a  lower  caste  becomes  an  outcast,  and  it  is 
only  after  suffering  the  severest  penances  that  he  is  re- 
stored. All  Europeans  are  looked  upon  as  inferior  to  the 
lowest  caste  of  Hindoos,  and  although  a  resident  Euro- 
pean or  a  traveler  may  be'  invited  to  the  residence  of  a 
wealthy  native  and  be  sumptuously  entertained,  the  host 
will  neither  eat  nor  drink  in  his  presence.  A  Brahmin 
will  not  eat  meat,  and  should  he  be  guilty  of  even  tasting  it, 
he  loses  his  caste  and  suffers  eternal  punishment  in  the  next 
world.  It  sometimes  occurs  that  a  high  caste  Brahmin  is 
employed  in  a  subordinate  capacity  by  one  of  the  mercan- 
tile class.  In  such  cases  the  low  caste  master  must  pay 
marked  respect  to  the  high  caste  servant,  and  dare  not 
pass  him  without  performing  the  most  servile  obeisance. 


AND  HOW  I  SA W  IT.  229 

Each  caste  is  represented  by  a  distinguishing  mark  on  the 
forehead,  which  is  renewed  every  morning.  All  this  is 
ridiculously  absurd  to  a  foreigner,  but  it  is  a  serious  mat- 
ter with  the  natives.  This  question  of  caste  is  the  most 
serious  obstruction  which  the  missionaries  encounter  in 
India.  The  natives  will  willingly  sacrifice  their  lives  to 
maintain  their  caste,  and  as  Christianity  involves  the  cast- 
ing aside  of  all  such  absurdities,  it  is  not  strange  that  the 
Hindoos  have  an  aversion  for  it.  Notwithstanding  the 
persistent  eiforts  of  the  Christian  world,  the  progress  of 
Christianity  in  India  is  discouragingly  slow. 

The  pleasantest  incident  of  our  travels,  so  far,  occurred 
in  Calcutta.  During  the  last  day  on  shipboard  I  was  ap- 
proached by  a  gentleman  who  introduced  himself  as  Mr. 
Mclntyre,  and  asked  me  if  I  was  not  an  American.  In 
replv  to  my  affirmative  answer  he  explained  that  he  was 
connected  with  an  American  house  in  Calcutta — C.  C. 
Bancroft  &  Co. — and  that  one  of  the  firm,  Mr.  Cobb,  had 
married  an  American  lady  of  my  name,  a  Miss  Converse, 
of  Boston.  Had  I  been  suddenly  transported  through  the 
intervening  twelve  thousand  miles  and  dropped  in  the 
midst  of  friends  in  America,  my  surprised  delight  could 
scarcely  have  been  greater.  In  the  father  of  Mrs.  Cobb 
I  recognized  one  of  my  warmest  personal  friends,  now  re- 
siding in  Boston.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cobb  came  down  to  the 
vessel  and  formed  our  acquaintance,  and  in  the  evening 
the  lady  sent  her  private  carriage,  with  liveried  servants 
and  all  the  paraphernalia  of  wealth  and  social  position,  to 
our  hotel,  with  a  pressing  invitation  to  dine  with  her. 
We  gladly  availed  ourselves  of  the  opportunity  so  kindly 
extended,  and  a  more  pleasant  evening  we  never  enjoyed. 
Despite  the  Oriental  surroundings,  we  imagined  ourselves 
back  again  in  our  own  country.  We  talked  long,  earnestly, 
and  unrestrainedly  of  home,  and  many  were  the  compari- 


230  WHAT  I  SAW, 

sons  drawn  between  other  nations  and  America,  always 
resulting  favorably  to  the  latter.  It  seemed  like  a  re- 
newal of  life  to  commune  again  with  congenial  spirits,  and 
to  hear  God  thanked  for  his  blessings,  where  the  thank- 
fulness came  from  the  heart.  Mrs.  Cobb  is  one  of  those 
frank,  genial,  open-hearted  ladies  whom  it  is  always  a 
pleasure  to  meet,  and  whose  pleasant  characteristics  stamp 
her  at  once  as  an  American.  We  finally  bade  our  friends 
good-night,  and  parted  from  them  with  much  regret,  leav- 
ing behind  our  blessing  upon  the  happy  family.  Mr. 
Mclntyre  is  one  of  the  household,  and,  in  accordance  with 
his  invitation,  we  were  ready  at  six  o'clock  the  following 
morning  for  a  drive  through  the  city.  The  excursion  was 
rendered  doubly  pleasant  by  our  companion's  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  points  most  worthy  of  observation.  We 
passed  through  Fort  William,  and  inspected  many  of  the 
most  attractive  features  of  the  city.  To  Mr.  Mclntyre 
and  Mr.  Cobb  and  wife  are  we  indebted  for  much  of  the 
pleasure  derived  from  our  brief  sojourn  in  the  metropolis 
of  India. 

The  weather  at  Calcutta,  although  in  the  midst  of 
Winter,  reminded  us  of  July  at  home.  The  mornings  are 
cool  and  pleasant,  and  a  Summer  overcoat  is  not  oppressive. 
This  evening,  December  21st,  we  leave  for  the  holy  city  of 
Benares;  thence  to  Cawnpore,  Lucknow,  and  other  places, 
arriving  at  Bombay  about  the  19th  of  January,  from  which 
point  we  sail  in  the  steamer  Rome  for  the  Red  Sea,  Suez, 
and  Egypt.  We  expect  to  reach  Egypt  about  the  1st  of 
February,  and  we  are  now  told  that  we  can  not  land  on 
account  of  the  cholera.  We  are,  however,  so  anxious  to 
make  the  "  Nile  trip "  that  our  present  intention  is  to 
enter  quarantine,  and  take  the  chances. 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  231 


XX. 


Calcutta  to  Benares— The  "Holy  City"  of  the  Brahmins— Its 
Gorgeous  Temples  and  Dirty  Devotees — The  Beastly  Habits 
OF  the  Native  Fanatics — The  Brahmin's  Chance  for  the 
Future  Philosophically  Considered. 

Benares,  India,  December  22,  j88j. 

We  left  Calcutta  last  evening,  going  to  the  great  East 
India  station  at  six  o'clock.  There  is  an  amount  of  form- 
ality and  "  red  tape "  about  securing  passage  on  an  East 
Indian  train  that  is  excessively  annoying  to  persons  who 
have  been  used  to  traveling  without  restraint  or  the  ob- 
servance of  superfluous  forms.  The  bills  I  gave  in  pay- 
ment for  tickets  I  was  required  to  indorse  like  a  bank 
check,  although  it  was  not  four  hours  since  I  drew  them 
from  the  bank.  This  is  probably  to  avoid  counterfeits,  but 
if  they  are  indorsed  by  every  one  through  whose  hands 
they  pass  they  would  soon  resemble  more  a  hotel  register 
than  a  bank  note.  Perhaps,  however,  my  indorsement 
will  be  held  sufficient,  and  those  bills,  with  my  signature 
,  written  across  the  back,  will  pass  unquestioned  as  long  as 
they  last.  Well,  if  it  will  do  them  any  good,  they  are 
welcome  to  it,  but  really  I  did  not  know  my  credit  was  so 
good.  Our  baggage  I  got  a  receipt  for  instead  of  a  check. 
It  is  more  than  strange  that  the  English,  with  all  their 
boasted  enterprise  and  progressiveness,  have  never  yet 
adopted  the  check  system  for  baggage.  Perhaps,  however, 
the  reason  is  found  in  their  detestation  of  "  Yankee  inven- 
tions."    The  coach  we  occupied  accommodated  only  four 


232  WHA  T  I  SA  W, 

persons.  Each  one  had  a  berth,  but  were  compelled  to 
provide  their  own  bedding.  What  a  wretched  travesty 
upon  a  sleeping-car.  I  could  not  but  contrast  the  accom- 
modations with  the  luxurious  elegance  of  the  Pullman  and 
Wagner  coaches,  that  are  looked  upon  as  a  necessity  of 
travel  in  America. 

The  distance  from  Calcutta  to  Benares  is  about  four 
hundred  miles.  But  little  opportunity  was  afforded  for 
viewing  the  country  before  the  next  morning.  The  land 
is  very  flat,  and  produces  rice,  mustard,  sugar,  millet, 
castor  beans,  and  extensively  the  mango.  It  is  now  the 
dry  season,  and  as  no  rain  has  fallen  for  four  months,  the 
land  is  parched  and  baked  until  it  presents  an  appearance 
of  wearying  desolation,  and  every  thing  raised  at  this  time 
is  the  result  of  irrigation.  The  population  in  that  part  of 
the  route  which  we  were  permitted  by  daylight  to  view  is 
numerous.  They  live  in  the  most  miserable  mud  huts 
which  the  imagination  can  possibly  picture.  Cattle,  goats, 
and  human  beings  live  together,  forming  an  inelegant 
illustration  of  the  "happy  family."  My  sympathies  are 
largely  with  the  cattle  and  goats^  Any  beasts  that  are 
compelled  to  affiliate  with  the  native  low  caste  Hindoos 
are  fit  objects  for  commiseration.  The  women  gather  the 
excrement  of  the  animals,  which,  after  being  formed  by  the 
hands  into  cakes,  is  plastered  upon  the  sides  of  the  dwell- 
ings to  dry.  It  is  then  used  as  fuel.  Now,  fancy,  if  you 
please,  the  same  hands  kneading  the  dough  to  make  bread  for 
your  dinner.  I  do  not  know  whether  their  hands  are  washed, 
but  a  suspicion  lingers  in  my  mind  that  they  are  not.  Hun- 
ger, however,  is  not  controlled  by  fastidiousness,  and  we 
did  eat  bread,  and  good  bread,  too,  made  by  these  Hindoos. 

As  we  approached  the  Ganges,  the  scene  suddenly 
changed,  like  the  shifting  colors  of  a  kaleidoscope.  The 
incomplete  vegetation   gave   place  to   a   luxuriance  which 


AND  HOW  1  SAW  IT.  233 

■would  almost  have  shamed  the  tropical  landscape  of  Cey- 
lon. We  passed  many  opium  fields,  and  learned  much  of 
the  manner  of  cultivating  the  poppy  and  securing  the 
opium  of  commerce.  The  process  is  exceedingly  simple. 
An  attendant  passes  through  the  fields  in  the  morning 
when  the  dew  is  still  on  the  plants,  and  strikes  each  with 
a  kind  of  many-bladed  knife.  A  milky  juice  exudes, 
which  dries  in  the  sun  and  turns  black.  This  is  gathered 
in  the  evening  by  being  scraped  off,  and  we  have  opium 
in  its  purity,  ready  for  the  market  as  soon  as  it  is  reduced 
to  the  proper  consistency.  This  is  secured  by  dividing  it 
into  small  portions,  each  of  which  is  wrapped  carefully  in 
a  mango  leaf.  It  is  then  rolled  in  the  hand  until  the  leaf 
becomes  a  part  of  the  mass.  Then  it  is  in  the  shape  of 
a  hard,  dry  ball. 

AYe  also  saw  numerous  indigo  fields,  and  learned  some- 
thing of  the  process  by  which  this  azure-tinted  necessity 
is  prepared  for  use.  The  plant  grows  to  the  height  of 
about  two  feet,  and  the  bluing  matter  is  obtained  by  the 
fermentation  of  the  juices  expressed.  The  coloring  matter 
dissolves  in  the  water,  forming  a  yellow  solution,  which  is 
drawn  off.  This  solution,  by  continued  exposure  to  the 
air  and  frequent  agitation,  gradually  dejjosits  indigo  as  a 
blue  precipitate,  which  is  dried  and  becomes  the  indigo  as 
it  is  known  to  commerce. 

Benares,  the  city  from  which  I  now  write,  is  the 
^^ sanctum  sanctoi^um"  of  the  Brahmins — the  "Holy  of 
Holies."  AYe  are  staying  at  Clark's  Hotel,  a  neat  and 
Avell  provided  hostelry,  where  we  find  many  of  the  com- 
forts of  more  civilized  countries. 

Benares  is  indeed  a  wonderful  place,  and  the  eye  starts 
with  surprise  and  delight  as  the  gilded  domes  of  mosques 
and  marble  walls  of  temples  burst  first  upon  the  view. 
The  city  presents  a  frontage  on  the  river   of  about  four 


234  WHAT  I  SAW, 

miles,  and  as  many  of  the  finest  edifices  are  on  its  banks, 
from  which  steps  of  shining  white  marble  lead  down  to 
the  water,  the  picture  is  one  of  entrancing  beauty,  which 
no  pen  can  fitly  describe. 

The  morning  after  our  arrival,  being  called  early,  we 
procured  a  carriage,  with  a  Mohammedan  guide,  and  set 
out  to  view  the  wonders  of  this  wonderful  city.  The  place 
is  one  very  difficult  to  describe,  for  the  reason  that  every 
step  divulges  fresh  and  unthought-of  novelties,  and  no  two 
of  them  are  alike. 

Although  the  Brahmin  religion  predominates  at  Be- 
nares, as  elsewhere  in  India,  this  city,  or  rather  its  suburb 
of  Sarnath,  is  credited  by  tradition  with  being  the  birth- 
place and  scene  of  the  early  work  of  Buddha.  Here, 
some  twenty-four  hundred  years  ago,  after  having  become, 
as  is  claimed  by  his  followers,  the  incarnation  of  God,  he 
began  his  teachings  and  builded  the  foundation  of  a  relig- 
ion which  to-day  has  more  followers  than  any  other. 
Buddhism  has  met  wath  an  experience  not  unlike  that  of 
Christianity.  Here  where  the  belief  first  assumed  shape 
and  where  its  founder  was  born  and  reared,  the  religion 
has  but  a  weak  hold,  while  in  Japan,  Ceylon,  and  China 
it  is  the  unswerving  faith  of  millions,  just  as  the  darkness 
of  unbelief  has  settled  as  a  pall  over  the  land  where  our 
Savior  gave  birth  to  that  divine  faith  that  has  spread 
throujrhout  the  earth  and  blessed  the  children  of  men. 

The  site  of  the  city  of  Sarnath  lies  to  the  north  of 
Benares  several  miles,  and  is  to-day  a  vast  ruin.  Of  the 
origin  of  the  city  and  its  destrnction  positively  nothing  is 
known,  and  nothing  more  substantial  than  tradition  gives 
it  as  the  birthplace  of  the  great  Buddha.  The  site  is  a 
vast  plain,  dotted  over  with  mounds  of  brick  and  rubbish, 
some  of  them  more  than  a  hundred  feet  high.  In  some 
places  walls  remain,  and  are  deep  cut  in  unknown  hiero- 


Q 
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bd 
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<o 

a 
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bd 
W 

a 
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w 


AND  HO W  I  SA  W  IT.  235 

glyphics.  The  desolation  reminds  me  much  of  Layard's 
description  of  Nineveh.  When  and  by  whom  was  this 
vast  city  peopled  ?  Whose  were  the  millions  of  busy  feet 
that  once  thronged  its  streets,  and  why  was  it  deserted 
and  given  over  to  the  howling  jackals?  These  were  the 
queries  that  thronged  my  mind  as  we  turned  our  backs 
upon  the  city  of  the  dead  and  forgotten  past  to  wander 
amid  the  temples,  mosques,  and  palaces  of  the  busy  present. 

There  are  in  Benares  no  less  than  two  thousand  four 
hundred  temples.  Now,  my  'skeptical  reader,  I  did  not 
count  them,  but  I  suppose  some  statistical  fiend  did,  and 
I  am  content  to  take  his  word  for  it.  It  is  a  city  of  tem- 
ples— and  a  city  of  ruins,  unlike  any  we  have  seen  in  our 
travels.  The  temples  are  built  of  stone  and  marble,  and 
many  of  the  houses  of  mud,  not  adobe,  as  in  Mexico,  but 
really  mud,  which  is  first  formed  into  walls  while  plastic, 
and  then  allowed  to  dry.  The  streets  are  narrow,  and  in 
some  places  we  had  to  leave  our  carriage  and  go  on  foot 
through  narrow  lanes  to  reach  the  temples  which  we  de- 
sired to  visit.  One  redeeming  feature  is  the  hundreds  of 
acres  in  parks,  which  grow  the  mango  and  tamarind,  pro- 
viding a  grateful  shade  and  a  welcome  variation  to  the 
tourist.  In  Benares  many  sights  remind  the  visitor  of  the 
Biblical  stories  of  Abraham.  At  the  wells  gather  the  na- 
tive women,  and  carry  away  the  water  in  jars  balanced  on 
the  head. 

Many  of  the  Brahmin  temples  are  devoted  to  the  wor- 
ship of  animals,  as  are  the  Buddhist  shrines  in  Japan. 
Among  those  we  visited  was  the  "  monkey  temple."  We 
had  procured  a  lot  of  coppers  to  give  the  priests  and  to 
buy  food  for  the  monkeys.  The  former  accepted  the  do- 
nations without  a  grimace  of  gratitude,  and  the  latter 
capered  nimbly  up  and  fearlessly  ate  from  our  hands. 
The  aroma  was  not  as  delicate  or  as  pleasing  to  the  olfac- 


236  WHA  T  I  SA  W, 

tories  as  the  perfume  of  new-mown  hay.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  smell  was  bewildering,  overpowering  and  crush- 
ing, causing  an  involuntary  closing  of  the  nostrils  and  a 
hurried  though  dignified  movement  toward  the  open  air. 
The  stench  does  not  arise  wholly  from  the  animals,  but  is 
due  largely  to  the  filthiness  of  the  people  who  worship 
there.  Barren  women  visit  this  temple  and  oifer  a  sacri- 
fice of  a  he-goat  that  the  gods  may  look  kindly  u})on  them 
and  cause  them  to  become  mothers.  The  blood  of  the  ani- 
mals oifered  at  these  sacrifices  is  allowed  to  remain  where 
it  is  spilled,  and  as  it  decomposes  adds  its  mite  to  the  all- 
pervading  stench. 

Next,  we  paid  our  respects  to  the  "  Temple  of  the 
Bulls,"  where  these  animals  roam  around  at  will,  and  also 
go  out  in  the  market  and  eat  what  they  wish.  The  ani- 
mals are  sacred,  and  not  only  are  not  disturbed,  but  are 
welcomed  to  their  food  with  all  the  devoutness  for  which 
the  idolaters  are  distinguished.  I  patted  some  of  them 
gently  with  my  hand.  To  have  struck  one  would  have 
so  enraged  the  people  that  my  death  alone  would  have 
appeased  them.  The  liquid  excrement  is  preserved  and 
drank  by  the  devotees.  This  is  not,  as  many  of  my  read- 
ers would  perhaps  be  glad  to  believe,  an  exaggeration,  but 
an  absolute,  undeniable  fact.  The  more  I  think  of  these 
people  the  more  fully  am  I  convinced  that  it  is  useless  to 
attempt  to  teach  them  that  which  they  do  not  want  to  be- 
lieve. The  Almighty  doubtless  created  such  creatures  for 
some  divine  purpose,  but  what  that  purpose  is  is  beyond 
the  grasp  of  human  ken. 

We  met  in  the  streets  great  caravans  of  elephants, 
camels,  donkeys,  and  bullocks,  together  wnth  vast  crowds 
of  native  pilgrims,  many  of  w^hom  had  come  a  distance 
of  five  hundred  miles.  These  deluded  creatures  prostrate 
themselves  every  few  steps  during  the  whole  distance  to 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT,  237 

the  Holy  City.  The  faithful  on  the  way  are  compelled  to 
feed  them.  The  prime  object  of  a  Brahmin's  life  is  to 
die  at  Benares.  They  are  taught  to  believe  that  their 
souls  at  once  enter  the  most  ecstatic  bliss  of  heaven  when 
they  leave  the  body  at  this  place.  My  own  opinion,  based 
upon  observation,  is  that  not  one-tenth  enough  of  them 
die  here  or  elsewhere.  The  Ganges,  the  "holy  river"  of 
Brahmism,  receives  the  bodies  of  all  those  who  can  not 
afford  to  be  burned. 

We  varied  what  gave  promise  of  monotony  by  visiting 
a  "  cloth-of-gold  "  manufactory.  The  gold  is  beaten  upon 
an  anvil  until  a  thread  of  pure  metal  of  almost  inconceiv- 
able fineness  is  produced.  It  is  then  woven,  the  warp 
being  of  the  finest  silk  and  the  woof  of  this  gold  thread. 
The  splendor  and  richness  of  the  production  can  scarcely 
be  imagined.  The  price,  of  course,  is  only  within  the 
reach  of  a  king.  One  piece  which  we  examined  was 
quoted  at  four  hundred  and  ninety  dollars  per  yard.  All 
the  work  is  done  by  hand.  Upon  due  consideration,  we 
have  decided  not  to  include  a  few  yards  of  it  in  our  me- 
mentos of  travel  in  India.  It  is  sold  largely  to  the 
wealthy  Baboos,  who  use  it  to  decorate  their  elejihants. 

AVe  passed  through  the  "Old  King's  Palace,"  and 
found  much  to  admire  and  a  little  to  envy  in  its  luxuri- 
ous fittings.  These  Oriental  kings  are  fond  of  the  good 
things  of  life,  but  they  have  to  die  like  common  people, 
which  must  be  a  source  of  infinite  regret  to  them.  The 
occupant  of  this  palace  dropped  off  about  a  year  ago.  AVe 
were  courteously  treated  by  the  attendants,  and  given  the 
privilege  of  a  thorough  inspection  of  the  premises. 

Visiting  Benares  without  seeing  the  car  of  Juggernaut 
would  be  like  a  play  with  the  leading  character  omitted. 
Where  is  the  man  or  woman,  who,  when  children,  did  not 
have  his  or  her  soul  horrified  by  the  picture  of  an  im- 


238  WHAT  I  SAW, 

mense  temple  on  wheels,  drawn  by  a  multitude,  and 
crushing  beneath  its  ponderous  weight  scores  of  hapless 
idolaters  ?  This  barbarous  custom  has  been  prohibited  by 
the  English  Government,  and  the  devotees  content  them- 
selves by  prostrating  their  bodies  before  the  car  as  it  is 
drawn  through  the  streets,  carefully  getting  out  of  the 
way  before  the  wheels  reach  them.  The  Juggernaut  is  a 
ponderous  concern,  about  twenty-five  feet  high,  with 
heavy,  cumbrous  wheels.  The  number  of  festivals  cele- 
brated annually  in  honor  of  Juggernaut  are  twelve.  He 
has  many  temples  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  the  one 
at  Puri,  on  the  western  coast  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  being 
the  largest  and  esteemed  the  most  holy.  A  writer  de- 
scribes the  principal  edifice  as  rising  to  a  height  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty-four  feet.  The  food  is  placed  at 
stated  intervals  before  the  idols.  The  people  throughout 
India  and  other  idolatrous  countries  are  taught  that  the 
appetite  of  these  gods  is  satisfied  by  smelling  and  seeing 
the  food  at  a  distance.  This  is  a  remarkably  convenient 
arrangement,  as  the  priests  always  appropriate  the  food 
after  the  contributors  have  gone  away.  The  car  festival 
celebrated  at  Puri  is  attended  by  vast  multitudes  of  the 
faithful,  and  the  exercises  are  of  a  disgustingly  obscene 
character,  the  address  delivered  by  a  priest  from  the  car 
as  it  is  drawn  through  the  street  being  replete  with  ex- 
pressions that  would  shame  the  cheek  of  a  pariah. 

The  great  "  Gold  Temple  "  is  included  in  the  wonders 
which  we  have  surveyed  at  Benares.  The  contrast  be- 
tween the  glittering  spires,  covered  with  pure  gold,  and 
the  inside,  w^iich  ^'  smells  to  heaven  "  with  a  combination 
of  all  the  horrible  filth  and  stinks  imaginable,  is  very 
great.  The  principal  object  of  worshipers  is  a  stone  bull, 
which  is  at  least  an  improvement  over  the  live  animals 
that  are  sacredly  preserved  in  others.     It  says  a  great  deal 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  239 

for  the  devotion  of  the  Hindoos  to  their  religion,  that  in 
this  temple  there  is  a  reservoir  about  three  feet  square  and 
a  foot  and  a  half  in  depth,  placed  there  to  receive  the 
offerings  of  devotees,  and  that  it  has  been  known  to  be 
filled  by  one  distinguished  visitor  with  gold,  often  with 
rupees,  and  aJmost  daily  with  coppers. 

We  are  surfeited  with  temples,  but  could  not  resist  the 
temptation  to  visit  the  "Burning  Temple,"  where  the 
bodies  of  the  devout  are  cremated  every  morning.  It  is 
located  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges,  and  there  are  brought 
some  fifty  or  more  bodies  a  day.  As  we  approached  the 
spot  our  ears  were  greeted  with  the  most  unearthly,  nerve- 
rasping  sound  which  we  ever  heard  dignified  with  the  name 
of  music.  The  corpses  are  brought  to  the  scene  wrapped 
in  sheets  and  laid  on  the  ground.  Wood  is  then  piled  on, 
and  the  nearest  relative  applies  the  torch,  and,  after 
walking  two  or  three  times  around  the  pile,  stalks  calmly 
and  unconcernedly  away.  After  the  burning  is  complete 
the  ashes  are  thrown  into  the  Ganges,  and  the  spirit  of  the 
cremated,  according  to  the  theory  of  the  believers,  enters 
at  once  into  the  glories  of  Paradise.  The  process  of  cre- 
mation is  partial  or  complete,  according  to  the  ability  of 
the  deceased  to  pay.  Complete  incineration  costs  five 
dollars,  and  in  cases  where  this  amount  of  money  is  not 
paid,  the  body,  partially  consumed,  is  thrown  into  the 
Ganges.  At  the  same  place  where  these  partially  con- 
sumed, festering  remains  were  being  cast  into  the  stream, 
we  saw  thousands  of  pilgrims  bathing  and  drinking  of 
the  water.  Women  were  also  carrying  it  away  in  jars,  to 
be  transported  hundreds  of  miles  into  the  country.  The 
guide  informed  us  that  a  peculiarity  of  the  water  of  the 
Ganges  is  that  it  remains  pure,  while  other  water  becomes 
stagnant  and  stale. 

Although  the   resident  population   of  the   city  is  less 


240  WHAT  I  SAW, 

than  two  hundred  thousand,  it  is  estimated  that  at  the 
present  time  the  number  of  pilgrims  here  is  not  less  than 
a  million  and  a  half.  It  is  impossible  for  any  person  who 
has  not  viewed  the  sights  we  have  looked  upon  to  con- 
ceive even  a  tithe  of  the  misery,  filth,  and  degradation 
among  them.  Filthiness  seems  to  be  a  part  of  the  Brahmin 
religion,  as  much  as  cleanliness  is  a  portion  of  the  Mo- 
hammedan faith.  If  such  is  the  case,  they  are  at  least 
entitled  to  the  credit  of  being  consistent  with  their  teach- 
ings. A  more  disgusting  mass  of  dirt  and  rags  never 
presented  itself  to  my  eye  than  can  to-day  be  seen  crowd- 
ing the  streets  of  this  holy  city  of  Benares,  always  ex- 
cepting China.  But  the  traveler  in  India  comes  here  to 
see  the  sights,  and  he  is  supposed  to  enjoy  all  of  them. 

We  procured  a  boat  and  went  up  and  down  the  river 
for  a  distance  of  a  mile  or  more.  Thus  we  secured  much 
the  best  view  of  the  more  attractive  features  of  the  city, 
as  most  of  the  temples  are  located  on  the  banks  of  the 
stream,  with  stone  or  marble  steps,  frequently  as  many  as 
a  hundred  in  number,  leading  to  the  Avater.  Up  and 
down  these,  ebbs  and  flows  a  mass  of  ragged  and  begrimed 
fanatics,  each  eager  to  bathe  in  the  holy  water  of  the 
Ganges.  If  the  process  was  one-half  as  effective  in  cleans- 
ing their  physical  systems  as  they  claim  It  Is  In  purifying 
their  immortal  souls  the  practice  would  be  more  com- 
mendable. 

The  Brahmins,  I  am  informed,  are  believers  in  the 
transmigration  of  souls,  and  the  monkeys,  bulls,  and  other 
animals  which  they  worship  are  revered  as  the  re-em- 
bodied souls  of  their  ancestors.  To  us  such  a  theory 
Is  the  very  climax  of  absurdity,  but,  in  considering 
the  fanaticism  of  these  heathen,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  tenets  of  their  peculiar  religion  have  been  in- 
stilled into  the  race  during   nearly  three  thousand  years; 


^^m^^^'^ 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  241 

that  the  doctrine  has  become  a  part  of  their  moral,  men- 
tal, and  physical  being;  that  intelligent  investigation  is 
with  them  impossible ;  that  not  even  a  faint  glimmer 
of  the  enlightenment  that  guides  the  thoughts  and  be- 
liefs of  the  educated  people  of  the  world  has  ever  dawned 
upon  them.  They  are  but  the  children  of  nature,  debased 
by  a  system  of  religion  which  has  nothing  elevating 
or  ennobling  in  it.  When  these  things  are  remem- 
bered, we  should  cease  to  feel  surprise  at  the  slow  progress 
of  Christianity  in  India.  Education  may  exist  without 
Christianity,  as  with  that  class  of  people  who  look  with 
distrust  upon  a  religion  whose  teachings  and  traditions 
can  not  be  made  to  conform  to  the  recognized  laws  of 
human  reason  and  scientific  research ;  but  Christianity  can 
never  progress  without  education.  If  the  idolaters  of 
India  and  China  are  to  be  converted  to  Christianity,  they 
must  first  be  rescued  from  the  intellectual  darkness  that 
rests  uj)on  them  as  a  seemingly  impenetrable  pall.  This 
idea  is  in  conformity  with  the  experience  of  missionaries 
here  in  India.  The  child  that  is  taken  when  young  and 
educated  in  the  mission  schools,  where  the  advanced 
theories  of  temporal  and  of  spiritual  life  go  hand  in  hand, 
becomes  a  good  and  consistent  Christian,  while  conversions 
among  adults  are  extremely  rare,  and  never  reliable. 
The  idea  that  the  Almighty  will  condemn  to  eternal  pun- 
ishment these  people,  whose  ideas  of  religion  are  the 
result  of  more  than  a  score  of  centuries  of  teaching;  who 
conform  strictly  and  doubtless  conscientiously  to  the  theo- 
ries that  have  prevailed  among  their  ancestors  for  these 
thousands  of  years,  is  revolting  to  me,  however  earnestly 
the  advocates  of  such  a  doctrine  may  defend  it.  I  have 
no  theory  to  advance  concerning  what  disposition  will  be 
made  of  them,  but  the  idea  that  a  just  God  will   visit 

eternal  punishment  upon  a  people  who   sinned  in  igno- 

16 


242  WHAT  I  SAW, 

ranee,  is  one  that  my  conception  of  the  Almighty  will  not 
sustain. 

Near  to  the  "  Gold  Temple  "  I  have  spoken  of  is  the 
celebrated  "  Well  of  Knowledge,"  supposed  to  be  the  resi- 
dence of  the  god  Siva.  Although  he  is  said  to  possess,  or 
to  have  possessed,  other  human  senses,  that  of  smell  must  be 
foreign  to  him,  for  any  thing  more  fearful  than  the  stench 
that  arises  from  this  sacred  well  can  not  be  imagined. 
Daily  offerings  of  Ganges  water  and  flowers  from  hundreds 
of  Hindoos  have  accumulated  in  this  sink,  and  the  effects 
of  the  decomposition  is  more  easily  imagined  than  de- 
scribed. And  yet  thousands  of  natives  will  deny  them- 
selves many  things  necessary  to  their  comfort  to  enable 
them  to  visit  the  holy  place,  and  wash  with  the  water 
from  the  well,  and  even  drink  it. 

At  Benares — which  is  to  the  Brahmins  a  place  as  holy 
as  the  Mecca  of  Mahommedanism,  and  at  all  seasons  is 
thronged  by  pilgrims,  whose  numbers  largely  increase  on 
the  occasion  of  certain  fete  days — the  traveler  can  study 
more  thoroughly  than  elsewhere  the  peculiarities,  not  only 
of  the  Hindoo  character,  but  their  personal  habits  and 
costumes.  The  prevailing  style  of  dress  among  the  lower 
castes  is,  with  the  men,  two  pieces  of  wide  cotton  cloth, 
one  end  of  which  is  wrapped  about  the  waist  and  allowed 
to  fall  as  low  as  the  knees.  The  other  end  is  thrown 
loosely  over  the  shoulder.  The  head  is  usually  covered 
by  a  turban,  or  a  cloth  of  some  bright  color,  wrapped  about 
the  head  to  resemble  one.  "While  this  is  the  prevailing 
style  of  dress,  loose  trowsers  are  frequently  seen,  though 
never  extending  below  the  calf  of  the  leg.  The  dress  of 
the  women  is  much  more  elaborate,  though  at  the  same 
time  of  the  utmost  simplicity.  They  have  a  single  piece 
of  cloth,  of  considerable  width  and  indefinite  length,  some- 
times  plain,  but  frequently  of  bright  colors.     One  end  of 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  243 

this  is  wrapped  around  the  waist  and  allowed  to  fall  to 
the  feet.  The  other  end  passes  around  the  upper  part  of 
the  body  and  over  the  head,  falling  to  the  rear  something 
after  the  manner  of  a  Spanish  mantilla.  This  style  of 
dress  is  one  not  likely  to  be  adopted  by  the  society  ladies 
of  America,  but  its  hygienic  properties  should  commend 
it.  The  women  of  India  are  free  from  the  pulmonary 
and  hepatic  complaints  that  make  life  a  burden  and  death 
a  relief  to  their  suffering  sisters  of  more  civilized  lands. 
Those  terrible  diseases  peculiar  to  the  sex,  which  are  the 
rule  rather  than  the  exception  in  Europe  and  America, 
are  almost  wholly  unknown  in  India.  There  is  not  a 
corset  factory  in  the  country,  and  heavy  skirts,  bearing 
indefinite  pounds  upon  the  waists  and  hips,  and  causing 
untold  misery  and  frequently  complete  destruction  of  all 
that  makes  life  a  pleasure,  are  curses  of  civilization  that 
have  not  yet  been  introduced  among  the  native  Hindoos. 
These  poor  benighted  creatures,  who  in  their  blind  fanat- 
icism fall  down  to  worship  before  false  gods,  may,  in  the 
course  of  divine  events,  suffer  untold  and  unending  pun- 
ishment. This  we  are  taught  by  the  ultra-orthodox  faith 
to  believe.  But  perhaps  even  then  they  may  find  comfort 
in  the  reflection  that  during  life  they  were  preserved  from 
the  many  evils  that  follow  closest  upon  the  footsteps  of 
civilization. 

The  brief  description  which  I  have  given  of  the  Hindoo 
dress  refers  to  the  lower  and  middle  classes  only.  The 
wealthier  classes  indulge  in  elaborate  costumes  of  the 
finest  muslins,  silks,  and  richest  brocades,  trimmed  in  gold 
or  silver  lace,  and  often  sparkling  with  the  brilliancy 
of  precious  stones.  The  desire  for  jewelry  is  universal, 
and  is  not  confined  to  any  class  or  caste.  With  the 
wealthy,  this  fondness  for  display  finds  expression  in  costly 
gems  and  gold  lace,  while  the  common  people  adorn  their 


244  WHAT  I  SAW, 

ears  and  noses  with  rings,  and  their  arms  and  ankles  with 
hrneeiets,  almost  without  number,  but  of  comparatively 
liltk^  vahie. 

During  our  stay  in  the  Holy  City,  I  conceived  the 
idea  of  paying  my  respects  to  the  rajah,  and  with  that 
object  in  view  addressed  "His  Serene  Highness"  a  note 
rt'Cj nesting  the  privilege  of  an  interview,  representing  my- 
self as  an  unassuming  representative  of  the  great  Yankee 
nation,  but  possessed  of  all  the  curiosity  concerning  other 
people  that  distinguish  my  countrymen.  Unfortunately, 
the  rajah  was  not  at  home,  as  his  secretary  announced  in 
a  reply  to  my  communication,  written  in  as  elegant  En- 
glish as  one  might  expect  from  a  cultured  American.  I 
was  requested  to  call  at  any  time  after  the  royal  gentle- 
man's return,  and  given  the  assurance  that  I  would  be 
cordially  welcomed.  I  was  sorry  for  the  rajah,  and  sin- 
cerely trust  he  appreciated  the  honor  which  T  was  willing 
to  confer  on  him.  It  is  perhaps  not  often  that  Americans 
are  so  condescending,  and  ray  departure  from  the  usual 
course  needs  to  be  commended. 

I  am  fully  and  painfully  aware  that  in  this  hurried 
sketch  of  our  brief  stay  in  Benares  I  have  not  even  ap- 
proximated justice  to  the  numberless  attractions  of  the 
city.  Justice  could  not  be  done  in  less  than  an  almost 
limitless  series  of  letters.  The  traveler  could  remain  in 
the  city  for  two  years,  and  every  day  and  every  hour  find 
something  new  and  startling,  either  in  the  history,  the 
surroundings,  or  the  current  events.  During  our  sojourn 
Ave  have  busied  ourselves  in  examining  the  most  salient 
points  of  attraction,  not  one-tenth  of  which  I  have  had 
time  or  space  to  describe,  and  we  feel,  as  we  are  preparing 
to  continue  our  journey,  that  much  that  is  interesting  has 
been  unavoidably  neglected. 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  245 


XXI. 

I 

LucKNOw,  THE  Eeal  "  City  OP  Palaces  " — Its  Connection  with 
THE  Indian  Mutiny — Visit  to  the  American  Mission. 

LuCKNOW,  December  24,  1881. 

This  city,  credited  with  a  population  of  between  two 
and  three  hundred  thousand,  is  tlie  former  cajDital  of  the 
kingdom  of  Oude,  whose  ruler,  as  I  have  said,  is  a  nominal 
prisoner  of  state  at  Calcutta.  It  is  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  north-west  of  Benares,  from  which  place  it  is 
reached  by  railroad.  The  first  view  of  the  city  presents 
a  confusion  of  towers,  domes,  minarets,  and  umbrageous 
foliage  which  attracts  the  eye  and  gives  promise  of  scenes 
of  wonderful  beauty.  Usually  the  first  ajjpearauce  of  an 
Oriental  city  is  deceptive,  and  a  closer  insj^ection  develo2)S 
much  of  wretched  misery.  Lucknow,  while  not  wholly 
an  exception  to  this  rule,  comes  nearer  escaping  the  usual 
criticism  than  any  place  we  have  seen.  The  city  is  about 
twenty-five  miles  in  circumference,  and  seems  more  to  the 
visitor  like  a  succession  of  villages  than  a  continuous 
town.  This  is  caused  by  the  numerous  and  extensive 
parks.  This  place  is  as  strongly  Mohammedan  as  Benares 
is  Brahmin.  In  point  of  bigotry  and  fanaticism  there  is 
not  much  difference  between  the  two,  but  it  is  a  relief  to 
escape  from  the  dingy,  filthy  temples  and  idolatry  of  the 
former  city  to  the  nearer  approach  to  decency  and  genuine 
worship  of  God  found  here. 

The  kings  of  Oude  were  a  luxurious  set  of  fellows, 
Avho  believed  in  the  creature  comforts  of  this  life  as  well 


246  WHAT  J  SAW, 

as  the  sj)iritiml  cnjoynioiit  of  the  one  to  come.  We  first 
visited  the  pahice  of  the  king  who  has  his  present  invol- 
untary residenee  at  Calcutta.  The  building  is  in  the  form 
of  a  square,  with  elegant  and  tasteful  fountains  and  gar- 
dens in  the  center.  We  wandered  through  the  magnificent 
marble  halls  and  penetrated  the  luxurious  chambers  of 
Oriental  royalty,  furnished  with  a  lavish  elegance  nowhere 
surpassed,  if  equaled,  and  looked  out  from  its  balconies 
upon  tlie  splendid  grounds,  stretching  away  to  a  back- 
ground of  other  j)^l^ces  and  mosques,  witli  glittering 
marble  walls  of  pearly  whiteness,  and  gilded  domes  and 
minarets  which  reflected  the  rays  of  the  sun  in  dazzling 
brilliancy.  The  scene  brought  to  mind  the  enchanting 
pages  of  the  "Arabian  Nights."  This  j^alace  is  just  one 
mile  and  a  half  square.  Adjoining  it  is  a  tomb  built  by 
the  king  for  one  of  his  wives,  of  pure  white  marble,  with 
a  dome  as  large  as  that  of  the  cajDltol  at  Washington. 
At  the  corners  are  tall  and  shajjcly  minarets.  Under  the 
dome  rests  the  sarcophagus  containing  the  body.  An  iron 
railing  surrounds  it,  which  was  formerly  encased  in  gold, 
but  the  precious  metal  w^as  torn  away  when  the  city  was 
sacked  during  the  mutiny.  The  Avails  were  formerly  In- 
laid with  precious  stones,  but  these  also  were  carried  away. 
The  tomb,  of  equal  elegance,  which  the  king  built  for 
himself,  stands  near  to  that  of  his  wife. 

During  the  long  continued  dynasty,  each  king  built 
for  himself  a  palace,  and  this  makes  of  Lucknow,  perhaps 
more  fully  than  any  other  place  in  India,  a  city  of  pal- 
aces. While  all  are  or  have  been  elegant,  there  are  de- 
grees of  elegance,  of  which  the  one  I  have  briefly  spoken 
of  is  the  finest.  We  included  In  our  peregrinations  the  pri- 
vate mosque  of  the  latest  king,  where  Is  his  silver  throne. 
This,  like  the  railing  surrounding  his  wife's  sarcophagus, 
was  once  covered  Avith  gold,  but  the  more  precious  casing 


AND  HO  W  1  SA  W  IT.  247 

disappeared  at  the  same  time.  When  Bhicher,  that  grim 
old  Prussiian  soldier,  was  taken  up  into  the  dome  of  St. 
Paul's  at  London,  and  given  a  view  of  the  city,  he  ex- 
claimed :  "  What  a  city  to  plunder !"  This  was  brought 
forcibly  to  my  mind,  and  I  thought  what  a  city  to  plun- 
der Lucknow  must  have  been.  The  exquisite  ornamenta- 
tion of  this  mosque  is  even  now  beyond  description. 

The  "  Gold  Umbrella  Temple  "  is  one  of  the  features 
of  the  city.  It  received  its  name  from  a  gigantic  gold 
umbrella,  twenty  feet  in  diameter,  which  formerly  graced 
its  dome.  We  wandered  at  leisure  through  its  spacious 
halls,  and  next  visited  the  "Holy  of  Holy  Mosque," 
where  rest  the  remains  of  one  of  the  numerous  kings  and 
his  wives.  The  building  has  one  central  dome,  and  at 
each  corner  a  minaret  one  hundred  and  seventy  feet  high. 
On  occasions  the  edifice  is  lighted  up  by  no  less  than  ten 
thousand  candles,  and  presents  such  a  scene  of  brilliancy 
as  can  be  seen  nowhere  else  on  earth.  The  floor  is  laid 
in  blocks  of  variegated  marble,  and  there  is  also  a  copy 
in  marble,  four  feet  by  six,  of  the  great  mosque  at  Mecca, 
where  is  deposited  the  body  of  Mahomet. 

Next  upon  our  necessarily  incomplete  programme  was 
the  English  Residency,  the  name  given  in  India  to  the 
residence  and  head-quarters  of  the  British  governor.  Here 
it  was  that,  during  the  mutiny,  the  women  and  children 
Avere  imprisoned  in  a  subterranean  vault  for  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  days,  and  here  it  was  the  gallant  Law- 
rence lost  his  life.  The  building,  which  was  formerly  a 
king's  palace,  is  now  in  ruins.  The  rebels  destroyed  it 
with  shot  and  shell,  and  but  a  part  of  the  walls  now  stand. 
A  church  which  had  been  built  by  the  English  near  by 
suffered  the  same  fate. 

We  passed  by  the  English  cemetery,  where  rest  many 
of  the  victims   of  the   mutiny,  to   the   elephant   grounds, 


248  WHAT  I  SAW, 

where  the  government  has  a  corral  of  forty-five  elephants, 
and  sixty-five  cuniols.  So  much  larger  and  finei>  are  these 
specimens  than  those  we  see  in  the  States  that  we  could 
almost  think  they  belong  to  a  different  species.  I  walked 
over  the  grounds  and  mingled  freely  with  the  docile 
animals.  Many  were  lying  down  and  being  scrubbed  by 
their  attendants.  They  seemed  to  enjoy  their  bath  almost 
as  much  as  I  did  mine  in  Ceylon.  All  were  very  tame. 
I  dropi)cd  a  small  piece  of  money  and  was  amused  to  see 
one  quickly  pick  it  up  and  pa.ss  it  to  his  keeper.  This 
trick  they  have  undoubtedly  been  taught,  as  every  Hindoo 
we  have  yet  seen  is  a  pertinacious  beggar. 

Hill's  Hotel,  where  we  are  quartered  here,  has  a  bit 
of  history  connected  with  it.  It  was  at  one  time,  like 
pretty  much  every  other  pretentious  building  in  Lucknow, 
a  king's  palace.  The  section  of  royalty  that  formerly 
occupied  the  place  seems  to  have  had  the  reputation  of 
being  a  grim  joker,  who  was  jealous  of  his  fame  in  that 
regard.  While  dining  one  day  with  his  ministers,  one  of 
them  presumed  to  make  an  attempt  to  reply  to  a  witty 
sally  of  his  majesty.  The  king  flew  into  a  towering  rage, 
and  commanded  that  the  presumptuous  fellow's  head  should 
be  cut  off  at  once.  This,  of  course,  was  done,  and  to-day 
we  dined  in  the  same  room.  Thanks  to  the  civilizing 
effect  of  the  presence  of  the  scarlet-coated  British  sol- 
diers, we  had  no  fear  for  the  safety  of  our  precious  caputs. 

Among  the  hundreds  of  mosques  and  palaces  in  the 
city  many  are  now  used  by  the  English  as  quarters  for 
soldiers  and  storehouses  for  ordnance.  The  conquerors  of 
India  have  little  veneration  for  their  predecessors. 

Lucknow  is  indissolubly  connected  in  every  person's 
mind  with  the  great  Indian  mutiny.  Here  were  enacted 
some  of  the  most  stirring  events  of  that  unfortunate 
period.    Who  does  not  remember  the  starving,  beleaguered 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  249 

garrison  and  the  heroic  Jessie  Brown,  whose  thrilling  cry, 
" Diuna  ye  hear  the  slogan?  'T is  Cam^ibell  and  his  men !" 
nerved  her  faltering  companions  to  renewed  efforts  for  de- 
fense? [I  am  sorry  to  say  that  history,  that  ruthless 
iconoclast  which  so  mercilessly  despoils  our  most  cherished 
idols,  shows  that  there  is  not  a  word  of  truth  in  the  story. 
This,  however,  does  not  detract  in  the  least  from  the 
heroism  of  the  beleaguered  little  garrison  and  the  w^omen 
and  children  they  so  bravely  and  successfully  defended.] 
The  native  contingent  in  Oude  were  among  the  first  to  join 
the  mutiny.  Regiment  after  regiment  either  disbanded  or 
joined  the  main  body  of  the  mutineers.  These  gathered 
in  large  force  at  Lucknow,  and  closely  invested  the  Res- 
idency. Sir  Henry  Lawrence  was  in  command  of  a  small 
force  of  English  and  loyal  native  soldiers.  He  was 
prompt  to  act.  The  extensive  range  of  buildings  formerly 
occupied  by  the  resident,  his  suite,  and  guard  were  placed 
in  a  state  of  defense ;  guns  were  mounted  at  all  command- 
ing points,  a  store  of  provisions  laid  in,  and  the  native 
troops  were  apparently  as  much  interested  as  the  Europeans 
in  holding  out  against  the  insurgents.  Throughout  the 
month  of  June,  1857,  Sir  Henry  not  only  repulsed  every 
assault,  but  inflicted  severe  chastisement  upon  the  enemy 
whenever  he  ventured  to  appear.  Toward  the  close  of 
the  month,  however,  supplies  began  to  run  short,  owing 
to  the  number  of  women  and  children  who  had  taken 
refuge  with  the  garrison.  It  therefore  became  necessary 
to  make  a  sortie  in  the  direction  of  the  hostile  camp.  On 
the  2d  of  July  this  was  done,  and  resulted  in  the  complete 
rout  of  the  insurgents.  The  loyal  native  troops  fought 
bravely,  but,  strangely  enough,  after  the  victoxy  was  won, 
they  turned  their  guns  upon  the  English  and  killed  no 
less  than  sixty-five  men  and  twelve  officers,  among  the 
latter  Sir  Henry  Lawrence   himself.     The   remainder   re- 


250  WHAT  1  SAW, 

treated  safely,  where  they  were  closely  besieged  until  the 
25th  of  September,  when  they  were  relieved  by  the  timely 
arrival  of  a  force  under  General  Havelock.  But  General 
Havelock's  relief  was  only  temporary,  as  the  force  was 
still  unal)le  to  cope  with  the  insurgent  army,  fifty  thousand 
in  number,  encumbered,  as  they  were,  by  nearly  a  thou- 
sand women  and  children  and  Avounded.  The  gallant 
little  band  held  out  against  their  joint  enemies,  the  muti- 
neers and  hunger,  for  two  months,  when  they  were  relieved 
by  a  force  under  Sir  Colin  Campbell.  As  I  write,  the 
scene  of  these  stirring  events  is  before  my  eyes,  and  I 
raise  my  hat  in  respect  to  the  bravery  of  the  English 
soldiers  who  defended  the  helpless  women  and  children 
until  starvation,  worse  even  than  the  heartless  Sepoys,  re- 
duced them  in  every  thing  but  courage. 

The  Secundar  Bagh,  which  was  formerly  a  pleasure 
garden,  is  now  a  large  walled  enclosure,  and  is  chiefly  in- 
teresting by  reason  of  its  being  the  scene  of  one  of  the 
most  terrible  but  just  retributions  of  the  mutiny  of  1857. 
During  the  siege  of  the  handfid  of  English  soldiery  in  the 
Eesidency  this  enclosure  was  occupied  by  a  picked  force 
of  two  thousand  Sepoys,  men  who  had  been  trained  to  be 
soldiers  by  English  officers.  The  walls  were  loop-holed 
for  musketr}^,  and  every  preparation  made  for  a  desperate 
defense  in  case  of  an  attack  by  a  relieving  force  of  British. 
"When  the  advance  of  Sir  Colin  Campbell  reached  Luck- 
now,  a  brigade  composed  of  the  Ninety-third  Highlanders, 
part  of  the  Fourth  Punjaub  (loyal  native)  and  a  detach- 
ment of  the  Fifty-third  Foot  stormed  the  Secundar.  The 
defenders  fought  like  the  tigers  of  their  native  jungles, 
but  the  hardy  Scots  and  lion-hearted  Englishmen,  nerved 
by  a  desperation  Avhich  made  every  man  a  hero  and  led 
him  forward  to  deeds  of  unequaled  valor,  proved  more 
than  equals  for  their  opponents,  and  of  the  two  thousand 


A ND  HO W  I  SAW  IT.  251 

Sepoys  within  that  inclosure  not  one  escaped.  Quarter 
was  neither  asked  nor  expected.  It  was  a  bloody,  a  fear- 
ful retribution,  but  found  more  than  justification  in  the 
eyes  of  civilized  humanity  in  a  remembrance  of  the  hun- 
dreds of  women  and  little  children  who  had  been  cause- 
lessly and  mercilessly  put  to  death  by  the  treacherous 
Sepoys. 

This  is  Christmas  eve,  and  among  the  teeming  mill- 
ions surrounding  us  there  is  not  one  to  wish  us  a  "  merry 
Christmas."  Although  the  heat  here  has  little  of  the 
enervating  intensity  of  the  tropics,  it  requires  an  effort 
for  us  to  keep  comfortably  cool,  while  doubtless  our 
friends  in  Ohio  are  shivering  beneath  heavy  wraj)s.  This 
morning  the  mercury  indicated  fifty-eight  in  the  shade, 
and,  as  this  is  mid-winter,  it  must  be  excessively  warm  in 
the  Summer.  While  I  can  not  agree  with  Colonel  Sellers, 
Mark  Twain's  hero,  that  warmth  is  purely  a  matter  of 
imagination,  yet  it  is  certainly  a  question  largely  of  edu- 
cation. The  natives  of  the  tropics  are  veritable  human 
salamanders,  and  in  a  few  years  I  expect  we  should  be- 
come as  lazy  and  shiftless  as  they  are. 

On  Christmas  morning  we  were  awakened  by  the 
British  band  playing  "  God  Save  the  Queen,"  and  with 
all  my  heart  I  responded,  "  God  bless  her !"  So  soon  as 
we  realized  that  this  was  the  joyful  anniversary,  we  united 
in  a  heartfelt  "Merry  Christmas"  to  our  friends  at  homo, 
which  we  hope  sped  through  the  intervening  ten  thousand 
miles  and  found  a  response  in  breasts  as  grateful  as  ours 
for  the  continued  blessings  of  a  kind  Providence. 

To-day  we  met  a  native  gentleman  and  wife,  residents 
of  the  "  up  country,"  who  are  fine  English  scholars,  and 
regaled  us  with  many  interesting  stories  of  life  In  the 
midst  of  wild  elephants,  tigers,  etc.  Their  descriptions 
of  tiger  hunts  were  very  entertaining,  but  did  not  arouse 


252  WBAT  I  SAW, 

^vltlllu  us  a  spark  of  ambition  to  indulge  in  tlic  pastime. 
According  to  my  mind,  if  tliere  is  any  one  tiling  in  the 
vast  catalogue  of  nature  in  which  distance  lends  enchant- 
ment to  the  view  it  is  a  beastly  tiger.  If  they  wait  for 
me  to  hunt  them  they  will  enjoy  an  indefinite  immunity 
from  disturbance.  The  beasts  we  see  in  menageries  at 
home  are  poor  measly  things  compared  with  the  genuine 
Indian  animal.    From  the  latter,  "Good  Lord,  deliver  us!" 

This  (Christmas)  morning  I  ordered  our  guide  to  take 
me  to  Rev.  Ram  Chunder  Bose,  a  native  convert  to  Chris- 
tianity whom  many  of  my  readers  will  doubtless  remem- 
ber as  the  gentleman  who  a  year  ago  delivered  an  address 
in  the  Methodist  Church  at  Bucyrus.  He  did  not  recog- 
nize me  at  fii'st,  but  after  I  had  removed  my  Indian  hel- 
met, the  recognition  was  complete.  The  reverend  gentle- 
man was  profuse  in  his  welcome.  He  also  lives  in  a 
king's  2)alace.  He  at  once  accompanied  us  to  the  Ameri- 
can mission,  where  we  had  a  pleasant  chat  with  the  ladies, 
and  spent  an  hour  quite  pleasantly. 

In  the  afternoon  we  went  wdth  brother  Bose  to  the  Sun- 
day-school. He  had  about  one  hundred  scholars,  from  the 
four  different  castes,  and  their  appearance  was  not  such  as 
gave  me  great  confidence  In  their  material  or  spiritual 
2)rogress.  I  was  accorded  the  privilege  of  questioning 
them,  and  through  the  interpreter  they  answered  quite 
readily.  Chunder  Bose  is  undoubtedly  an  earnest,  faith- 
ful worker  in  the  cause  of  Christianity,  but  his  ideas  of 
the  progress  of  the  work,  though  not  rose-tinted,  and  mine 
differ.  He  thinks  that  within  five  hundred  years  India 
will  become  Christianized.  I  place  the  figures  at  five 
thousand.  ]\Ir.  Badly,  of  Iowa,  has  charge  of  the  missions 
here,  and  I  had  a  long  and  pleasant  talk  Avith  him.  We 
are  much  indebted  to  him  for  numerous  kindnesses. 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT,  253 


XXII. 

From  Luckxow  to  Cawnpore — The  Scene  of  the  Massacre  of 
1857 — Agra,  "The  City  of  the  Beautiful" — The  Great  Taj 
Mahal — One  of  the  "Wonders  of  the  World — A  Tomb  that 
WAS  Seventeen  Years  in  Building,  OccrpviNG  the  Labor  of 
Twenty  Thousand  Men,  and  Costing  Eighteen  Millions  op 
Dollars. 

Agra,  India,  December  jo,  i88i. 

Our  departure  from  Liicknow  was  attended  with  feel- 
ings of  unfeigned  regret.  The  necessity  for  pushing 
forward  on  our  journey  compelled  us  to  limit  the  pleas- 
ures enjoyed  in  wandering  through  its  beautiful  parks, 
admiring  its  numerous  palaces,  and  speculating  among  its 
ruins.  As  I  said  in  my  last,  Lucknow  is  a  collection  of 
cities,  being  separated  by  immense  plats,  the  parks  or 
hunting  grounds  of  former  kings,  often  three  miles  in 
extent.  I  supj)ose  these  spaces  are  really  a  part  of  the 
city,  and  should  be  so  considered,  but  the  ira2)ression 
created  is  that  of  a  series  of  cities,  connected  in  interests 
but  separated  in  fact.  We  spent  Christmas  evening  very 
pleasantly  in  the  company  of  a  native  lady  and  gentleman, 
who  spoke  English.  They  added  much  to  our  information 
concerning  India  and  its  people,  their  religion,  social 
habits,  and  customs.  They  asked  us  to  remain  a  day 
longer  and  enjoy  the  novelty  of  an  elephant  ride.  They 
possess  a  drove  of  a  hundred,  and  promised  us  our  pick 
of  the  lot.  "We  would  have  been  much  pleased  to  accede 
to  their  request,  but  were  admonished  that  time  flies,  and 
that  there  is  still  before  us  a  large  part  of  our  programme. 


254  WHAT  I  SAW, 

The  clay  following  Christmas,  we  went  to  Cawnpore, 
distant  from  Lucknow  about  forty-five  miles,  where  we 
arrived  at  10  A.  M.,  breakfasted,  procured  a  carriage  and 
drove  to  view  the  sights. 

Cawnpore  is  interesting  to  the  tourist  mainly  by  reason 
of  its  intimate  connection  with  the  mutiny  of  1857.  Here 
it  was  that  the  infamous  Nana  Sahib,  that  incarnation  of 
treachery  and  brutality,  massacred  the  entire  garrison, 
including  the  helpless  women  and  children.  The  outbreak 
occurred  at  Cawnpore  on  the  night  of  the  6th  of  June, 
when  the  native  contingent  deserted  in  a  body,  and  the 
next  afternoon  the  residence  of  every  foreigner  Avas  fired. 
On  the  8th  the  attack  upon  the  garrison  commenced, 
and  was  kept  up  until  the  13th,  with  constantly  increasing 
vigor.  On  the  12th  the  barracks,  where  the  women  and 
children  had  found  shelter,  were  burned,  and  these  poor 
creatures  were  compelled  to  seek  protection  in  the  trenches. 
Such  were  the  circumstances  when  Nana  Sahib,  who  was 
in  command,  sent  a  note  to  the  commander  of  the  gar- 
rison, proposing  honorable  terms  of  capitulation.  It  was 
agreed  that  the  besieged  should  give  up  the  government 
money,  the  guns,  and  ammunition,  and  that  the  insurgents 
should  provide  boats  to  convey  them  to  Allahabad  un- 
molested. This  agreement  was  drawn  up  in  writng, 
signed  and  sealed  and  ratified  by  Nana  Sahib  with  a 
solemn  oath.  The  garrison  numbered,  including  upwards 
of  three  hundred  women  and  children,  nine  hundred  per- 
sons. On  the  27th  the  surrendered  garrison  were  escorted 
to  the  river,  a  distance  of  over  a  mile,  by  the  entire  rebel 
army,  where,  when  they  were  in  the  act  of  embarking,  the 
firing  of  a  gun  gave  the  signal,  and  the  sepoys  opened 
fire  upon  the  helpless  prisoners.  All  the  men  were  killed 
except  four,  two  of  whom  are  yet  living.  The  ocbupants 
of  one  boat  escaped  temporarily,  after  making  a  vigorous 


o     h 

o    7  //  f^m 


AND  HOW  I  >SAW  IT.  255 

defense  with  their  side-arms,  which  they  had  been  allowed 
to  retain.  They  were,  however,  captured  the  next  day 
and  brought  back  to  the  Nana's  camp,  where  the  men  were 
shot  to  death  with  some  ceremony.  All  the  women  and 
children  were  taken  to  the  insurgent  camp  and  confined 
in  a  large  building,  and  on  the  15th  of  July  orders  were 
issued  to  put  every  one  to  death.  They  were  directed  to 
come  out  of  the  rooms  in  which  they  were  confined. 
Upon  their  refusal  the  troops  brought  muskets,  and  after 
firing  a  great  many  shots  through  the  windows  and  doors, 
rushed  in  with  swords  and  bayonets.  Some  of  the  help- 
less creatures,  in  their  agony,  fell  down  at  the  feet  of 
their  murderers  and  plead  for  mercy  in  the  most  pitiful 
manner.  The  fearful  deed  was  done,  most  deliberately  and 
completely,  in  the  midst  of  the  dreadful  shrieks  and  cries 
of  the  victims.  There  were  between  one  hundred  and 
forty  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  souls,  the  wives,  daughters, 
and  children  of  the  British  garrison.  The  next  morning, 
on  opening  the  doors  of  the  vast  slaughter  house,  it  was 
found  that  a  few  had  escaped  the  assassins,  and  they  were 
ordered  to  be  sacrificed.  Terrorized,  they  rushed  from  the 
building  and  plunged  headlong  into  an  adjacent  well. 
The  dead  bodies  of  the  victims  of  the  preceding  evening 
were  then  ordered  to  be  thrown  into  the  same  excavation. 
On  the  20th  of  July,  General  Havelock,  after  encounter- 
ing a  desperate  resistance,  recovered  Cawnpore,  but,  alas, 
they  arrived  in  time  only  to  avenge  their  murdered  coun- 
trymen— too  late  to  save  them  !  The  floor  of  the  building 
in  which  the  massacre  took  place  was  still  two  inches 
deep  in  blood.  Portions  of  dresses,  children's  frocks, 
ladies'  underclothing,  boys'  trowsers,  ladies'  round  hats, 
all  thickly  clotted  with  blood,  lay  strewed  about.  Leaves 
of  Bibles,  and  a  book  entitled  "Preparation  for  Death," 
were  scattered  in  all   directions,  mixed  up  with   broken 


256  WHAT  I  SAW, 

daguerreotypes,  combs,  and  bunches  of  long  hair  torn  out 
by  the  roots.  The  wooden  pillars  in  the  shed  were  hacked 
with  sword  cuts,  in  which  stuck  tresses  of  female  hair. 
The  well  in  the  same  compound  was  a  still  more  dreadful 
spectacle.  Nearly  two  hundred  w^omen  and  children  had 
been  thrown  into  it.  Arms  and  legs  were  protruding 
from  the  mouth  of  the  well  when  first  discovered.  It  was 
promptly  covered  up,  and  is  now  one  large  grave.  Terri- 
ble was  the  retribution  visited  by  the  British  upon  those 
engaged  in  the  massacre.  Hundreds  were  captured  and 
summarily  put  to  death.  General  Neil,  the  commandant, 
adopted  a  curious  plan  to  increase  the  punishment  of  the 
natives.  To  a  high  caste  Brahmin,  the  touch  of  blood  is 
eternal  damnation.  When  such  were  captured  they  were 
first  compelled  to  work  at  cleaning  up  the  horrifying  evi- 
dence of  the  massacre,  and  then  hanged. 

I  have  thus  given,  largely  from  memory,  a  brief 
sketch  of  the  massacre  of  Cawnpore,  which  aroused  the 
horror  and  indignation  of  the  civilized  world,  for  the 
reason  that  the  events  of  twenty-five  years  ago  are  not 
within  the  remembrance  of  many  of  my  readers  and  have 
perhaps  passed  from  the  memory  of  others ;  and  also  be- 
cause the  scene  where  these  horrors  were  enacted,  horrors 
which  give  to  travel  in  India  to  every  English-speaking 
tourist  an  additional  interest,  was  passed  over  by  us.  We 
visited  the  landing  at  the  river  where  the  massacre  w^as 
first  inaugurated,  and  the  spot,  now  marked  by  a  tasteful 
memorial,  where  the  women  and  children  were  so  heart- 
lessly put  to  death.  The  scene  of  the  massacre  of  the 
women  and  children  is  now  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
spots  in  all  India,  it  having  been  transformed  into  an  ele- 
gant park  or  garden  by  the  British  authorities.  In  the 
midst  of  this  garden  is  an  inclosure,  surrounded  by  marble 
walls,  and  in  the  center  of  this,  immediately  over  the  fatal 


AND  HO  W  1  SA  W  IT.  257 

well,  stands  the  marble  statue  of  au  angel,  holding  in  its 
hands  palm  leaves,  the  symbol  of  victory  obtained  through 
martyrdom.  The  pedestal  upon  which  stands  the  angel 
bears  an  inscription  in  the  following  words: 

"Sacred  to  the  perpetual  memory  of  a  great  company  of 
Christian  people — chiefly  women  and  children — who,  near 
this  spot,  were  cruelly  massacred  by  the  followers  of  the  rebel, 
Nana  Dhoondopunt,  of  Bithoor,  and  cast,  the  dying  with  the 
dead,  into  the  well  below,  on  the  loth  day  of  July,  1857.'' 

As  we  stood  and  gazed  upon  this  tasteful  memorial  or 
allowed  our  eyes  to  wander  over  the  floral  beauties  of  the 
garden,  our  minds  reverted  to  a  different  scene,  but  a 
little  more  than  twenty-four  years  ago,  when  the  helpless 
women  and  innocent  children,  within  a  few  steps  of  where 
we  stood,  were  butchered  with  a  horrid  brutality  that 
could  find  its  conception  only  in  the  minds  of  blood- 
thirsty savages.  Beneath  our  feet  almost  was  the  well 
down  which  their  mutilated  bodies  were  thrown,  and 
where,  in  one  common  grave,  rest  the  hapless  victims  of 
a  fiendish  treachery,  awaiting  the  call  which  shall  summon 
all  to  arise.  Mingled  with  these  sad  thoughts  was  the 
essentially  human  consolation  found  in  the  knowledge  of 
the  terrible  retribution  visited  upon  the  authors  of  the 
tragedy  by  the  British  authorities.  Even  at  this  late  day 
the  Christian  blood  tingles  with  resentment,  and  something 
akin  to  a  malediction  against  the  whole  Hindoo  race 
springs  unbidden  to  the  lips.  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of 
perusing  the  narrative  of  W.  J.  Shepherd,  one  of  the  four 
survivors  of  the  massacre,  a  neat  volume,  printed  at  Luck- 
now,  in  which  the  author  graphically  portrays  the  scenes 
attending  the  slaughter,  in  which  were  sacrificed  his  w'ife, 
two  children,  a  brother  and  a  sister-in-law.  Mr.  Shepherd' 
escaped  from  the  trenches  before  the  surrender,  by  dis- 
guising himself  as  a  Hindoo,  and  remained  in  Cawnpore 


258  WHAT  I  SAW, 

until  after  the  arrival  of  the  relieving  force  under  Gen- 
eral Havelock.  The  horrors  he  describes  are  almost  be- 
yond human  conception,  and  they  have  a  tendency  to 
confirm  the  reader's  mind  in  thankfulness  to  a  just  Provi- 
dence; that  provided  an  eternal  punishment  for  the  willfully 
perverse  of  his  creatures. 

My  guide,  a  native  who  during  the  mutiny  remained 
loval  to  the  British  cause,  and  was  present  in  Cawnpore 
during  the  massacre,  says  the  English  troops  arrived  in 
eighty  minutes  after  the  butchery  was  complete.  Either, 
his  memory  or  his  veracity  is  certainly  at  fault,  as  history 
records  that  it  was  about  five  days. 

Previous  to  the  outbreak  of  twenty-five  years  ago, 
Cawnpore  was  a  large  city,  numbering  at  one  time,  it  is 
said,  more  than  a  million  inhabitants,  and,  like  Lucknow, 
is  a  combination  of  counti-y  and  city,  or  perhaps  more 
properly  speaking,  presenting  the  appearance  of  a  collec- 
tion of  villages.  The  whole  now  contains  but  a  little 
more  than  one  hundred  thousand  people.  The  parks  are 
innumerable,  and  of  varied  degrees  of  pleasantness.  There 
is  little  of  interest  connected  with  the  place  beyond  being 
the  scene  of  the  massacre  which  I  have  incompletely  de- 
tailed. We  remained  but  one  day,  and  left  on  the  next 
morning  for  the  city  from  which  I  now  write. 

We  are  having  very  pleasant  weather  here,  the  mer- 
cury ranging  from  sixty  degrees  in  the  morning  to  eighty 
at  noon.  After  much  experience  and  a  deal  of  calm  and 
careful  consideration,  we  have  reached  the  solemn  conclu- 
sion that  traveling  and  sight-seeing  is  hard  work.  Not 
only  the  mind  but  the  physical  system  is  kept  upon  a 
constant  strain,  and  nothing  seems  sweeter  or  more  enjoy- 
able than  the  rest  we  secure  at  night.  In  cities  like  Be- 
nares and  Lucknow,  where  our  experiences  were  but  a 
series  of  surprises,  the  mind  becomes  bewildered  to  a  great 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  259 

extent,  and  difficulty  in  placing  upon  paper  a  connected 
account  of  the  scenes  and  incidents  is  the  natural  result. 
For  this  reason,  added  to  my  limited  experience  as  a  writer, 
I  beg  my  readers  to  excuse  the  appearance  of  sameness 
and  other  shortcomings  which  I  fear  tend  to  mar  my  pro- 
ductions. My  letters  are  usually  prepared  amid  surround- 
ings not  conducive  to  mental  placidity,  and  amid  scenes  of 
novelty  that  tend  to  distract  the  writer's  attention. 

Our  hotel  at  Cawnpore  was  a  one-story  building,  with 
deep  surrounding  verandas.  In  the  center  is  the  dining- 
room,  and  adjoining  it  the  sleeping  apartments.  Each  is 
supplied  with  a  bath  room  and  earth  closet.  The  waiters 
at  the  tables  were  Hindoos,  with  white  turbans  and  gowns, 
and  bare  feet.  They  are  as  noiseless  as  cats  in  their  move- 
ments, and  one  can  not  disabuse  his  mind  of  the  Thugs 
and  their  bow-strings,  as  one  of  them  slips  up  behind  his 
chair.  The  caste  among  the  natives  is  of  no  inconsiderable 
inconvenience  to  travelers.  For  instance,  the  one  who 
waits  upon  you  at  table  would  under  no  consideration 
move  your  luggage,  and  the  Indian  baggage-smasher 
would  much  rather  hurl  himself  into  the  Ganges  than 
drive  your  carriage,  and  so  through  the  whole  category. 

While  seated  in  the  hotel  at  Cawnpore,  enjoying  the 
novelty  and,  so  far  as  possible,  the  cooling  breezes,  we 
were  amused  by  a  number  of  jugglers  and  singers,  the 
latter  of  whom,  possibly  in  the  way  of  compliment  to  our 
nationality,  rendered  "  John  Brown ;"  at  least  that  was  un- 
doubtedly the  air,  but  the  words,  being  Hindoo,  were  left 
wholly  to  our  imagination.  The  jugglers  of  India  have  a 
world-wide  celebrity,  and  truly  they  are  a  "  slick "  and 
dextrous  lot  of  fellows.  One  of  the  party  of  which  I  am 
speaking  produced  an  earthen  pot,  partially  filled  with 
earth,  and  directly  before  our  eyes  and  within  a  half- 
dozen  feet  of  the  points  of  our  noses,  caused  a  shrub  to 


260  WHAT  I  SAW, 

sprout,  grow,  and  bloom,  within  two  minutes.  Life  is  too 
short  antl  explicable  novelties  in  India  too  numerous  to 
justify  even  speculation  as  to  how  the  trick  was  ])erforraed. 

If  any  of  my  readers  contemplate  stocking  a  menagerie, 
they  will  be  interested  in  the  prices  which  prevail  here  in 
India,  the  land  from  which  most  of  the  sujjplics  are  de- 
rived. Tame  elephants  cost  from  four  hundred  and  fifty 
to  five  hundred  dollars  ;  camels,  twenty-five  to  thirty  dol- 
lars ;  tigers,  about  three  hundred  dollars ;  and  other  ani- 
mals a  less  amount.  In  this  country  the  people  talk  as 
calmly  and  unconcernedly  about  elephant  and  tiger  hunt- 
ing as  the  boys  at  home  do  of  a  quest  for  rabbits  or  quail. 

S])eaking  of  hotels  reminds  me  that  in  this  regard 
I  have  been  disappointed  in  India.  I  find  the  hotels 
much  better  than  we  expected.  They  are  well  kept,  well 
provided,  and  universally  clean.  The  charges  are  not 
exorbitant,  being  usually  about  two  dollars  per  day  for 
accommodations  similar  to  those  to  be  obtained  in  America 
for  the  same  price.  For  our  Christmas  dinner  at  Lucknow 
we  had  dishes  not  dissimilar  to  those  we  would  have  en- 
joyed at  home,  except  that  our  turkey,  roast  pork,  beef, 
etc.,  was  made  more  relishable  by  a  dessert  of  luscious, 
fresh,  strawberries. 

During  our  brief  sojourn  in  Cawnpore,  we  visited  the 
bungalow  of  Dr.  McGrew,  one  of  the  Methodist  mission- 
aries. He  and  his  good  wife  have  a  school  of  about  one 
thousand  pupils,  drawn  from  all  the  diiFerent  castes,  the 
poor,  the  rich,  and  the  very  rich.  They  tell  us  they  are 
hopeful  of  spiritual  benefit,  and  agree  wath  me  that  the 
work  is  a  great  promoter  of  trade  and  commerce.  I  have 
no  cause  for  dispute  with  the  well-meant  efforts  of  these 
faithful  workers  in  the  cause  of  the  Master,  but  it  is  seed 
sown  on  stony  ground. 

We  visited  the  Hindoo  suttee  ground,  a  place  where 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  261 

formerly  the  living  widow  was  sacrificed  upon  the  funeral 
pyre  of  the  deceased  husband.  This  practice,  like  many 
others  of  the  most  barbarous  customs  of  the  natives,  has 
been  forbidden  by  the  English  authorities,  and  now,  if  it 
is  thought  that  the  spirit  of  the  dead  husband  can  not 
enter  Paradise  without  being  accompanied  by  that  of  his 
wife,  she  sends  a  proxy,  in  the  form  of  a  lay  figure. 
Whether  this  satisfies  the  gods,  I  have  not  learned. 

In  coming  from  Cawnpore  to  Agra  we  left  behind  us 
the  Ganges.  The  route  is  over  the  great  East  Indian 
Railway  to  Toondla  Junction,  and  thence  by  a  branch. 
This  city  is  located  on  the  river  Jumna,  a  branch  of  the 
Ganges.  The  country  en  route  is  diversified  in  fertility, 
many  of  the  hills  being  barren,  except  when  subject  to  ir- 
rigation, but  the  lowlands  partake  of  the  luxurious  fer- 
tility that  distinguishes  the  valley  of  the  Ganges.  In 
India,  as  elsewhere  throughout  the  Orient,  agriculture  is 
in  a  condition  as  primitive  almost  as  in  the  days  of  Cain. 
The  farming  implements  in  vogue  in  America  a  century 
since  would  be  a  thousand  years  ahead  of  the  time  in  In- 
dia. The  trip  to  Agra  from  Cawnpore  is  varied  by  a  con- 
tinuous succession  of  caravans,  composed  of  elephants  and 
camels,  and  the  picture  of  one  of  these,  bivouacked  for 
the  night,  is  at  once  novel  and  entertaining. 

We  arrived  here  at  midnight,  and  the  next  hour  was 
crowded  with  more  disagreeable  experiences  than  we  hope 
are  in  store  for  us  during  any  similar  length  of  time. 
There  is  here  only  one  English  hotel,  and  it  was  full. 
Just  what  to  do  we  did  not  know.  Like  the  Son  of  man, 
Ave  had  nowhere  to  lay  our  heads,  but  unlike  him,  we  were 
in  a  strange  land.  I  can  inform  any  one  curious  enough 
to  inquire,  that  there  is  not  even  a  little  bit  of  amusement 
in  being  in  a  strange  country,  where  you  can  not  speak 
an  intelligible  word,  at  the  dead  hour  of  midnight,  with  as 


262  WHAT  J  SAW, 

clear  an  idea  of  the  most  feasible  route  to  the  North  Pole 
as  you  have  of  the  direction  to  a  place  to  sleep.  We  told 
our  driver  what  we  wanted,  but  we  might  as  w^ell  have 
poured  our  distressed  tale  into  the  unsympathetic  ear  of  an 
idol.  The  latter  would  have  comprehended  its  meaning 
fully  as  well.  Finally,  just  as  we  were  about  to  be  over- 
whelmed with  despair,  the  idea  seemed  to  penetrate  the 
sensibilities  of  our  chaperon  that  perhaps  we  wanted  to  go 
to  bed,  and  he  took  us  to  a  native  hotel.  In  the  language 
of  the  boys,  "  It  is  a  daisy."  Even  here  only  one  room 
was  vacant,  but  that  was  quite  sufficient,  having  an  area 
of  about  thirty  by  forty  feet.  The  furniture  was  the  most 
attractive  feature  of  the  apartment.  It  consisted  wholly 
of  one  miserable  table,  such  as  might  be  purchased  of  an 
American  dealer  for  ten  cents,  with  a  chance  of  being  paid 
for  taking  it  away  if  the  customer  complained  of  the  price. 
The  writer  at  once  entered  upon  the  delivery  of  a  lecture 
well  suited  to  the  occasion.  The  words  were  probably  as 
obscure  to  the  thick-headed  Hindoo  attendant  as  would 
have  been  a  sentence  of  Hebrew.  The  meaning,  however, 
was  undoubtedly  more  clear,  as  the  first  few  vigorously 
expressed  paragraphs  caused  him  to  bring  a  cot  and  a 
sheet.  Another  emphatically  enunciated  sentence,  and  a 
comforter  was  produced ;  one  more,  a  rag  of  doubtful 
purity,  rolled  up,  and  about  the  size  of  a  goose-egg,  for  a 
pillow,  and  another  brought  forth  a  towel  which  possessed 
the  merit  of  not  having  been  in  continuous  use  more  than 
a  week.  My  final  elocutionary  effi)rt  caused  the  now 
thoroughly  aroused  waiter  to  provide  some  water  and  a 
glass.  I  did  not  feel  my  physical  strength  equal  to  the 
effort  necessary  to  secure  a  mirror,  and  my  respected  com- 
panion, perhaps  for  the  first  time  in  her  life,  was  compelled 
to  make  her  toilet  before  an  imaginary  looking-glass. 
She  experienced,    in   consequence,   a  nearer  approach  to 


AND  HO  W  I SA  W  IT.  ,       263 

discouragement  than  I  ever  before  observed.  Some  women 
will  face  an  Apache  Indian  without  a  tremor,  will  j)osi- 
tively  enjoy  an  earthquake,  and  be  unabashed  by  a  howling 
mob  of  Japanese,  but  should  circumstances  require  them  to 
dress  without  a  mirror  there  is  liable  to  be  trouble.  Not- 
withstanding our  untoward  surroundings,  we  settled  down 
upon  our  couch  as  cozily  as  a  pair  of  doves,  and  slept  well. 
Fatigue  is  a  great  sedative.  I  believe  I  could  have  slept 
on  the  single  table,  and  I  am  certain  Mrs.  C  would  have 
been  wholly  content  if  there  had  been  nothing  more  in  the 
room  than  a  mirror. 

At  breakfast  we  were  again  besieged  by  the  Hindoo 
troubadors,  who  rendered  "AYe  won't  go  home  till  morn- 
ing "  very  acceptably.  I  invested  two  annas  (five  cents)  in 
the  entertainment,  and  felt  well  rej)aid  for  the  jjleasant 
reminder  of  "  God's  country."  These  gave  place  to  the 
usual  galaxy  of  pertinacious  peddlers  of  curiosities.  We 
have,  ever  since  leaving  home,  been  suffering  from  the 
"  curiosity  fever,"  but  experience,  that  great  teacher,  has 
taught  us  much,  and  we  can  now  view  with  equanimity 
the  array  of  objects  which  three  months  since  we  would 
have  given  much  to  possess. 

We  are  now  distant  from  Calcutta  about  eight  hundred 
and  fifty  miles.  The  fact  that  this  city  is  but  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  above  the  sea  will  serve  to  indicate  the 
extent  of  the  vast  plain  which  composes  the  western  part 
of  India.  The  current  of  the  Jumna,  which  is  a  tributary 
of  the  Ganges,  at  this  point  is  very  slow,  and  so  continues 
until  the  water  reaches  the  Ganges  and  finally  falls  into 
the  Bay  of  Bengal. 

After  breakfast  we  procured  a  carriage  and  guide,  and 
went  to  visit  that  wonder  of  all  wonders,  the  Taj -Mahal. 
All  writers  upon  India  agree  that  this  structure  is  wholly 
unsurpassed.     Bayard  Taylor,  that  prince  of  tourists,  ac- 


264  WHAT  I  SAW, 

knowledged  his  inability  to  do  the  edifice  descriptive  jus- 
tice. It  is,  then,  with  much  temerity  that  I  ajjproach  the 
subject. 

The  Taj-Mahal  stands  on  the  bank  of  the  river  Jumna, 
about  four  miles  south-east  of  the  city  of  Agra,  and  is 
reached  by  a  pleasant  drive.  On  the  way  we  jmss  the 
remains  of  villas  of  the  Mogul  nobles,  once  a  scene  of  lux- 
urious loveliness,  but  now  unsightly  heaps  of  rubbish,  Avith 
searcclv  a  vestige  of  their  ancient  magnificence.  The 
Taj,  which  has  aroused  the  enthusiastic  admiration  of  all 
travelers,  and  is  universally  pronounced  the  most  magnif- 
icent structure  in  the  world,  is  but  a  tomb,  a  monument 
erected  by  Shah  Jchan  to  his  wife  Banoo,  or,  with  her 
title,  Banoo  Begum.  The  grounds  surrounding  the  edifice 
are  about  one  hundred  acres  in  extent  and  are  inclosed 
by  a  lofty  wall.  We  entered  the  grounds  by  a  massive 
archway  of  red  sandstone  eighty  feet  high,  of  Itself  a  mon- 
ument to  the  architectural  skill  of  the  builders.  The 
grounds  are  tastefully  laid  out  in  walks  bordered  by  flow- 
ers and  trees,  and,  unlike  most  of  the  former  glory  of 
India,  the  whole  is  carefully  guarded  and  kept  In  repair 
by  the  English.  From  the  gate  a  straight,  smooth  walk, 
bordered  with  rows  of  Italian  cypress  trees  and  a  series  of 
elegant  crystal  fountains,  leads  to  the  north  end  of  the  Taj. 
Looking  through  the  vista  thus  formed,  the  eye  rests  upon 
the  tomb,  which  forms  the  background  of  the  picture. 
The  platform  upon  which  the  structure  rests  is  four  hun- 
dred feet  square,  composed  of  highly  polished  and  dazzling 
white  marble.  The  building  rises  from  an  elevation  of 
about  forty  feet  above  the  ground,  and  is  also,  in  every 
part.  Inside  and  out,  of  the  purest  white  marble,  carved 
with  extracts  from  the  Koran  and  representations  of  the 
lotus  flower,  and  Inlaid  with  pearl  and  precious  stones, 
such  as  agate,  cornelian  and  sardonyx.     The  effect  when 


> 

O 

>^ 

H 

H 

H 
> 

> 

> 

ir' 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  265 

the  rays  of  the  sun  rest  upon  it  can  be  better  imagined  by 
the  reader  than  described  by  me.  The  view  leaves  nothing 
to  the  imagination  of  the  beholder,  but  completely  fills  his 
most  gorgeous  conception  of  glorious  magnificence.  The 
building  is  a  square  structure  of  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  on  each  side.  This  square  form  is  reduced  to  an 
octagonal  figure  by  having  the  corners  cut  down,  thus 
showing  four  j^rincipal  and  four  smaller  fronts.  There  is 
a  central  dome  and  at  each  corner  a  pure  white  marble 
minaret.  On  each  of  the  four  principal  sides  of  the  build- 
ing is  a  niche,  extending  nearly  to  the  apex.  Each  of 
these  niches  is  an  exquisite  exhibition  of  tasteful  carving 
and  mosaic  of  precious  stones.  The  central  dome  is  sur- 
mounted by  a  golden  crescent.  Four  domes  of  lesser 
dimensions  crown  the  facades.  On  each  of  the  four  prin- 
cipal sides  is  an  arch,  through  Avhich  the  visitor  may  gain 
the  interior.  Entering  the  arch  opposite  the  main  entrance 
to  the  grounds,  the  visitor  passes  down  a  slight  incline, 
and  enters  a  chamber  directly  under  the  central  dome. 
The  sarcophagus  of  Banoo  Begum  rests  here.  The  light 
from  the  doors  is,  by  a  process  showing  that  the  Indian 
Mohammedans  understood  some  of  the  principles  of  optics, 
concentrated  upon  the  tomb.  Near  by  is  the  sarcopha- 
gus of  the  Shah  Jehan  himself,  of  smaller  dimensions, 
though  scarcely  less  elaborate  ornamentation,  than  that  of 
his  wife.  These  sarcophagi  are  of  the  purest  white  mar- 
ble, covered  with  delicate  tracing  of  sculptured  vines  and 
texts  from  the  Koran,  traced  by  inlaid  precious  stones, 
sapphires,  rubies,  topaz,  garnets,  emeralds,  jasper,  malachite, 
cornelian,  agate,  bloodstone,  etc.  Above  this  is  the  prin- 
cipal floor  of  the  edifice,  beneath  the  dome,  and  you  look 
up  a  height  of  two  hundred  and  sixty-two  feet  to  its 
vaulted  roof.  On  the  mosaic  floor  of  this  rotunda  is  a 
second  sarcophagus  or  centotaph,  similar  in  dimensions  to 


266  WHAT  I  SAW, 

the  one  below,  which  contains  the  remains  of  the  queen, 
but  perhaps  more  elaborately  ornamented.  In  passing 
throu"-h  this  structure,  the  visitor  is  impressed  not  so 
much  by  its  immensity  as  by  its  delicate  and  exquisite 
beauty  and  harmony.  The  railing  surrounding  the  tombs 
is  about  six  feet  high,  and  is  composed  of  immense  blocks 
of  marble  two  inches  thick,  cut  out  in  delicate  tracery  or 
filagree  that  rivals  in  exquisite  beauty  fine  lace.  Under- 
stand me,  that  this  ornamentation  is  not  simply  traced  on 
the  surface  but  is  cut  clear  through  the  block,  giving,  as  I 
have  said,  the  appearance  of  a  curtain  of  lace.  It  is  said, 
and  doubtless  truthfully,  that  the  entire  Koran,  or  Mo- 
hammedan Bible,  is  given  in  the  mosaic  throughout  the 
building. 

No  description  that  I  can  give,  and  none  that  I  have 
ever  read,  conveys  any  adequate  idea  of  the  Taj -Mahal. 
The  visitor  is  so  bewildered  by  the  magnificent  appearance 
and  entire  harmony  of  every  detail  that  any  attempt  to 
express  in  words  the  sentiments  of  admiration  which  he 
feels  is  liable  to  lead  to  an  impression  of  exaggeration  on 
the  mind  of  the  reader.  Tradition  says  that  the  original 
idea  of  the  Shah  was  to  erect  for  himself  a  similar  mon- 
ument on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  and  connect  the 
two  with  a  silver  bridge.  This  project  would  probably 
have  been  carried  out  had  not  death  intervened. 

The  labor  in  the  construction  of  the  Taj-Mahal  was  all 
forced  except  the  work  of  foreign  artists,  and  it  required 
the  service-  of  twenty  thousand  men  seventeen  years  in 
Iniilding.  These  laborers  were  paid  nothing  but  their 
food,  and  yet  the  structure  cost  eighteen  millions  of  dollars. 
It  is  the  reality  of  the  fairy  dream  of  Aladdin. 

On  each  side  of  the  Taj  stands  a  red  sandstone  mosque, 
which,  though  of  magnificent  proportions  and  attractive 
architecture,  sink  into  insignificance  by  reason  of  the  com- 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  267 

parison  with  the  princijjal  structure.  We  passed  out  again 
through  the  arched  gateway^  and  turned  to  look  down  the 
avenue  for  the  last  time.  The  view  is  one  that  is  indel- 
ibly photographed  upon  my  brain,  and  never  can  I  hope 
to  see  its  equal.  From  a  boy  I  had  read  of  the  great 
Taj-Mahal,  and  looked  forward  to  a  visit  with  all  the  en- 
thusiasm of  youth,  hoping  for  much,  but  fearing  disap- 
pointment. The  most  roseate  dream  of  magnificence  fell 
far  short  of  the  reality.  We  feel  that  we  have  seen 
the  world,  for  nothing  else  prej^ared  by  human  hands 
can  equal  it.  The  mosques  of  which  I  have  spoken 
are  of  exquisite  beauty,  and  if  alone  would  be  a  feature 
of  the  visit. 

We  much  regret  that  circumstances  prevented  us  secur- 
ing a  view  of  the  magnificent  architectural  monument 
by  moonlight,  a  scene  that  surpasses  even  the  most  ex- 
travagant mental  conception,  when  the  massive  structure 
of  the  purest  white  marble  seems  to  melt  away  and  min- 
gle with  the  fleecy  clouds  above.  Most  of  my  readers 
have  doubtless  looked  with  varied  interest  and  appre- 
ciation upon  photographs  and  engravings  of  the  tomb, 
but  they  can  thus  secure  but  an  indefinite  idea  of  the 
building  as  it  really  appears.  The  surroundings,  a  beau- 
tiful grove  of  tropical  trees  and  plants,  interspersed  with 
tasteful  fountains,  is  a  fit  setting  to  the  priceless  gem  that 
rests  like  a  brilliant  diamond  in  a  cluster  of  rubies,  sap- 
phires, and  emeralds. 

The  Taj -Mahal  is  by  no  means  the  only  attraction  to 
be  found  at  Agra.  Among  the  many  others  is  the  fort, 
built  of  red  sandstone,  and  covering  an  area  of  about 
eight  hundred  and  fifty  acres.  Within  this  is  the  famous 
Pearl  Mosque,  built  of  alabaster,  where  the  Mohammedan 
kings  and  their  courts  worshiped.  The  sides  of  the  ves- 
tibule of  the  inner  hall  are  composed  of  marble  lacework 


268  WHA  T  I  SA  W, 

similar  to  that  in  the  groat  Taj.  Behind  this  screen  the 
concubines  of  the  king  were  hidden  from  the  public  gaze 
while  participating  in  the  worship.  We  thoroughly  in- 
spected the  fort,  which  contains  several  palaces,  and  also 
prisons  where  the  wives  and  other  offenders  against  the 
king  were  frequently  confined.  We  penetrated  the  depths 
of  sub-cellars,  where,  in  a  vault,  is  a  beam  from  which  he 
caused  those  who  were  so  unfortunate  as  to  incur  the 
royal  enmity  to  be  hung.  The  victims,  after  being  stran- 
gled, were  precipitated  into  a  deep  well  which  communi- 
cated with  the  river,  and  were  washed  away  by  the  current. 
We  went  through  cell  after  cell  whose  walls  were  four 
feet  thick.  What  horrors,  what  blood-curdling  stories  of 
misery,  crime,  and  death  these  silent  walls  could  tell! 
One  palace  in  the  fort  contains  the  throne,  which,  tradi- 
tion says,  cracked  and  poured  forth  blood,  when  a  con- 
quering usurper  occupied  it.  The  guide  shows  the  fissure 
and  the  blood  stains,  and  views  with  unfeigned  disgust  the 
slightest  evidence  of  incredulity  upon  the  part  of  the 
visitor.  There  also  are  the  pearl-marble  chairs,  which, 
like  the  throne,  are  cracked  and  crumbling  with  decay. 

Although  the  visitor  to  Agra,  after  a  view  of  the  Taj 
Mahal,  the  fort,  and  the  Pearl  Mosque,  feels  himself 
surfeited  with  the  magnificence  of  architecture,  he  should 
not  neglect  the  tomb  of  the  great  Akbar,  at  Secundra. 
This  wise  and  good  ruler  was  a  contemporary  of  Queen 
Elizabeth;  was  born  in  1542,  ascended  the  throne  at  the 
age  of  fourteen  and  died  in  1604,  after  a  reign  of  forty- 
eight  years.  The  tomb  of  Akbar  stands  on  a  terrace  in 
the  center  of  an  inclosure  of  about  one  hundred  acres. 
The  high  wall  surrounding  is  of  red  sandstone.  There 
are  four  gates,  some  of  which  are  more  than  a  hundred 
feet  high,  forming  an  alcove  entrance.  The  tomb  itself  is 
five  stories  in  height,  each  story  receding  from  the  line  of 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  269 

the  one  below,  forming  a  terrace.  The  building  covers  an 
area  of  four  acres,  and  is  built  of  red  sandstone,  except 
the  fifth  story,  which  is  of  polished  white  marble  covered 
with  tracery  work  and  carvings  of  extracts  from  the 
Koran  cut  deep  in  the  walls.  AYe  descended  a  long  pas- 
sage way  to  the  crypt,  and  there,  in  a  pure  marble  sar- 
cophagus, rest  the  remains  of  the  great  Hindoo  king. 
At  the  apex  of  this  building  was  formerly  set  the  great 
Kohinoor  diamond,  the  same  which  now  graces  the  jewels 
of  the  Queen  of  England.  Here,  in  the  full  rays  of  the 
tropical  sun,  it  shone  with  a  brilliancy  that  could  doubt- 
less be  seen  at  a  great  distance.  The  exteriors  of  the 
different  stories  have  pavilions,  resting  upon  marble  col- 
umns which  terminate  above  in  graceful  gilded  spires. 

Agra,  when  it  was  the  capital  of  the  Mogul  Empire, 
was  undoubtedly  the  most  magnificent  city  in  the  world. 
The  kings  were  possessed  of  unlimited  wealth  and  power, 
combined  with  an  appreciative  love  for  the  beautiful  which 
found  its  best  and  most  appropriate  expression  in  the 
architectural  grandeur  of  which  only  a  small  part  remains. 
Like  all  Indian  cities  which  we  have  seen,  Agra  is  inter- 
spersed with  extensive  parks,  which  relieve  the  eye  and 
serve  as  a  grateful  oasis  to  the  weary  tourist.  It  is  a  vast 
picture,  where  unrivaled  magnificence  is  interspersed  with 
gigantic  moss-grown  ruins  and  wretchedness. 

We  are,  as  I  write,  preparing  for  the  continuance  of 
our  journey  to  Delhi,  the  once  capital  of  the  Moguls. 


270  WHAT  I  SAW, 


XXIII. 

Delhi— The  Old  Cities  and  the  New— The  Axcient  Ruins— 
KooTUB  MiNAK — The  Jumping  Well — The  Mosque  of  Jumna 
MUS.IID — The  Imperial  Palace — The  Peacock  Throne — Delhi 
IN  THE  Mutiny — Social  Life  op  the  Hindoos. 

Delhi,  India  January  2,  1882. 

This  is  the  most  northern  point  which  our  tour  in 
India  will  reach.  "\Ye  are  now  nearly  a  thousand  miles 
north  of  Calcutta,  yet  but  five  hundred  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea.  We  are  stopping  at  the  United  Service 
Hotel,  kept  by  a  native  Hindoo  of  the  high  caste.  So 
soon  as  possible  after  arriving,  we  procured  a  guide  and 
carriage  for  a  tour  of  the  city,  or  rather  succession  of 
cities,  that  constitute  w'hat  is  known  as  Delhi.  We  were 
accompanied  on  our  tour  of  observation  by  an  English 
coujjle.  We  first  went  to  Old  Delhi,  which  is  now  but  a 
vast  ruin.  The  date  of  the  Mohammedan  rule  in  India  and 
the  foundation  of  the  great  Mogul  Empire,  the  richest 
and  most  magnificent,  perhaps,  that  ever  existed  on  earth, 
is  fixed  at  the  year  1398.  Previous  to  that  there  had  been 
several  Mussulman  invasions,  but  of  only  partial  success. 
The  first  (A.  D.  715)  resulted  in  an  occupation  of  but  few 
years.  In  the  eleventh  century  Sultan  Mahmoud  advanced 
into  India,  and  conquered  that  vast  country  now  known 
as  the  Punjaub,  in  the  north-west,  and  finally  succeeded  in 
overcoming  the  whole  northern  part  of  Hindoostan.  In 
1398  Tamerlane  invaded  the  country,  seized  Delhi,  and 
established    the   great   Mogul    Empire,    which    continued 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  271 

until  overthrown  by  the  British  in  1803.  It  appears  that 
Agra  was  the  capital  only  during  the  reign  of  Akbar, 
and  that  Delhi  was  the  seat  of  government  during  the  re- 
mainder of  the  four  hundred  years  that  the  kingdom  ex- 
isted. A  peculiarity  is  found  in  the  history  of  this  ancient 
capital  that  accounts  for  the  appearance  of  a  vast  succession 
of  ruins.  It  seems  that  each  change  of  dynasty  (and  there 
were  several)  resulted  in  the  at  least  partial  destruction 
of  the  city,  and  it  was  rebuilt  in  a  different  location. 
Thus  the  Delhi  of  to-day  is  the  last  one  of  the  shifting 
cities.  It  dates  from  the  reign  of  Humayoon,  the  father 
of  Akbar,  about  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
Consequently,  it  is  by  no  means  an  ancient  city,  its  build- 
ing being  contemporaneous  with  the  discovery  of  America. 
It  has  at  present  a  population  of  about  two  hundred 
thousand ;  is  located  on  the  river  Jumna,  one  hundred  and 
twelve  miles  north-west  of  Agra,  and  four  hundred  and 
twenty-five  north-west  of  Benares.  It  has  an  extensive 
trade  with  Afghanistan  and  the  northern  provinces  of  In- 
dia, and  extensive  manufactories  of  cotton  and  other  textile 
fabrics,  and  jewelry.  The  primitive  mode  of  manufacture 
prevailing  causes  surprise  at  the  magnificent  results  at- 
tained. All  the  cities  of  Delhi,  including  the  ancient 
ruins,  cover  an  area"  of  fully  forty  miles  square.  These 
ruins  are  to  the  tourist  the  most  interesting  feature.  One 
can  not  move  a  rod  in  any  direction  without  passing  over 
or  through  the  debris  of  some  vast  temple,  mosque,  or 
palace.  The  tomb  of  Humayoon,  the  father  of  Akbar, 
while  not  so  magnificent  as  the  Taj -Mahal,  surpasses  it 
in  extent,  and  is  probably  the  grandest  monument  ever 
erected  to  a  king.  It  is  but  one  of  numerous  tombs,  all 
of  which  are  approached  through  massive  arches  that  form 
a  part  of  the  great  wall.  We  noted  the  tomb  of  Akbar's 
daughter.     Her  body  rests    under   a  vast  marble   dome, 


272  WHAT  I  SAW, 

and  tlic  railing  surrounding  tlie  tomb  is  of  elegantly  carved 
marble  fretwork,  similar  to  that  described  at  Agra.  She 
re(iiu'stcd  that  grass  should  forever  grow  on  her  tomb, 
and  to  this  day  it  is  kept  green. 

The  descriptions  which  I  have  attempted  to  give  of  the 
tombs  at  Agra,  and  one  here,  will  do,  in  a  general  way, 
for  all  of  the  numerous  mausoleums.  They  vary  only  in 
size  and  elegance.  They  are  from  one  hundred  feet  square 
to  an  area  of  three  acres,  and  from  fifty  feet  to  a  hundred 
or  more  in  height.  Each  is  surmounted  by  a  bulb-shaped 
dome.  The  entrances  to  the  grounds  are  universally  mass- 
ive arches  of  red  sandstone.  The  gateways  under  these 
arches  are  thirty  or  forty  feet  in  height.  The  visitor 
passes  up  from  the  entrance  through  a  long  walk,  many 
of  them  half  a  mile  in  extent,  to  the  tomb.  All  the 
mosques  and  tombs  are  built  either  of  red  sandstone  or 
white  marble,  or  both. 

The  oldest  of  the  old  cities  of  Delhi,  which  is  thought 
to  date  from  about  300  B.  C,  is  distant  from  our  hotel 
nearly  twenty-five  miles.  There  is  not,  there  can  not  be, 
any  drive  in  the  world  replete  wath  greater  interest,  or 
more  diversified  by  a  continuity  of  objects  and  views  of 
superior  attractiveness  to  the  antiquary.  The  reader,  when 
feeling  a  sensation  of  surprise,  and  perhaps  incredulity, 
regarding  the  distance,  will  please  remember  that  the  group 
of  Delhis  is  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  in 
circumference. 

After  reaching  the  ruins  of  the  oldest  city,  and  in  fact 
for  miles  before  the  point  is  reached,  the  attention  is 
attracted  by  a  massive  turret,  whose  shapely  elevation 
forms  a  towering  background  to  the  picture  before  you. 
As  you  approach,  its  dimensions  increase  until  when  you 
stand  at  the  base  the  sensation  of  wonder  becomes  merged 
in  one  of  awe.     It  is  known  as  the  Kootub  Minar,  and 


THE  KOOTUB   MINAR, 


AND  HO W  I  SAW  IT.  273 

being  forty-seven  feet  in  diameter  at  the  base,  towers  to 
the  height  of  two  hundred  and  eighty-six.  It  tapers  from 
the  base  upward,  and  is  composed  of  five  stories,  the  base 
of  each  having  a  projecting  gallery  or  balustrade.  The 
height  of  each  story  is  graduated  in  proportion  to  the 
reduced  circumference,  so  that  while  the  lower  is  nearly  a 
hundred  feet  high  the  upper  is  but  a  little  more  than 
twenty.  The  first,  second,  and  third  stories  are  built  of  red 
sandstone,  the  fourth  of  marble  with  a  broad  belt  of  red 
stone,  and  the  fifth  is  of  jwre  marble.  The  entire  column 
is  fluted,  though  the  fluting  varies  in  the  different  stories. 
A  winding  stairway  in  the  inside  leads  to  the  top.  Under 
the  balustrade  of  each  story  are  gigantic  carvings,  com- 
posed largely  of  texts  from  the  Koran.  There  is  a  differ- 
ence of  opinion  among  writers  in  regard  to  its  antiquity. 
Concerning  by  whom  or  for  what  purpose  it  was  erected, 
all  are  agreed  that  nothing  is  known.  An  Arabic  inscrip- 
tion indicates  that  it  was  completed  towards  the  close  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  but  when  it  was  commenced  is  a 
profound  mystery.  Near  to  this  massive  pile  are  the  re- 
mains of  a  once  beautiful  temple,  where  hundreds  of  the 
supporting  columns  are  yet  standing,  all  carved  in  bold 
relief,  and  no  two .  alike.  The  gateway  leading  to  it  I 
judge  to  be  about  fifty  feet  high. 

Not  far  from  the  Kootub  Minar  is  an  ancient  pillar  of 
pure  iron,  a  cylinder  sixteen  inches  in  diameter.  Its  top 
extends  twenty  feet  above  the  surface,  and  an  excavation 
to  the  depth  of  twenty-six  feet  has  failed  to  discover  the 
lower  end  of  it.  Nothing  is  known  of  who  constructed  it 
or  for  what  purpose  it  was  built.  Bayard  Taylor  assigns 
its  construction  to  one  century  before  Christ,  while  Seward 
places  the  date  at  A.  D.  319.  Where  such  eminent  author- 
ities disagree  I  will  not  presume  to  express  an  opinion. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  have  none  to  express. 

18 


274  WHAT  I  SAW, 

We  visited  the  tomb  of  one  king  who  had  formerly 
been  the  slave  of  his  predecessor.  It  is  in  an  excellent 
state  of  preservation.  The  floor  is  of  marble,  and  was  for- 
merly inlaid  with  precious  stones.  All  have,  however, 
been  picked  out,  and  the  stone  now  presents  something  the 
appearance  of  a  honeycomb.  The  entire  area  of  these 
ruins,  miles  in  extent,  is  but  a  repetition  of  such  as  I 
have  endeavored  to  describe,  and  any  attempt  to  note 
them  in  detail  would  fill  a  volume. 

In  the  midst  of  this  desolation  is  a  well  about  forty 
feet  in  diameter,  walled  up  and  with  steps  leading  to  the 
water  below,  a  distance  of  over  eighty  feet.  This  .is  util- 
ized by  the  beggars,  who  haunt  the  visitor  at  every  step, 
as  a  means  to  extort  money.  It  is  called  the  "jumping 
well,"  and  for  a  few  pence  these  wretched  mendicants  will 
plunge  from  the  surface  to  the  water  below,  like  so  many 
frogs,  returning  by  a  flight  of  steps.  I  watched  the  feat 
with  interest  for  some  time,  in  the  vain  hope  that  some 
of  the  wretches  would  be  drowned,  but  Avhen  my  hopes 
developed  no  substantial  basis,  I  turned  away  to  objects 
more  worthy  of  attention.  These  natives  live  in  the  midst 
of  the  ruins  in  all  the  squalor  which  poverty  and  an  innate 
love  of  wretchedness  can  produce.  Their  habitations  are 
mud  huts,  where  throng  thousands  of  natives,  priests,  men, 
women,  and  children,  and  all  are  beggars  of  the  most 
pertinacious  type. 

We  returned  finally  to  our  hotel,  wearied,  worn,  and 
bewildered  by  the  multiplicity  of  sights  which  we  had  wit- 
nessed— sights  that,  like  thousands  of  others  in  India,  are 
of  themselves  well  worth  a  trip  around  the  world  to  see. 

Having  disposed  of  old  Delhi  to  our  at  least  partial 
satisfaction,  we  next  turned  our  investigations  to  the 
present  city.  One  of  the  finest  edifices  in  the  new  city  is 
the  mosque  of  Jumna  Musjid.     It  stands  in  the  center  of 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  275 

a  rocky  terrace,  and  is  reached  by  long  stone  staircases  on 
three  sides.  The  dimensions  are  not  so  great  as  others 
we  have  seen,  being  but  two  hundred  by  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet,  but  its  elevated  position  and  surroundings 
make  it  one  of  the  most  prominent  features  of  the  city. 
It  is  surmounted  by  three  shapely  marble  cupolas  with 
gilded  spires.  At  each  end  of  the  building  is  a  minaret, 
built  of  alternating  courses  of  black  and  white  marble. 
The  effect  is  singularly  grand  and  imposing.  The  floor  of 
the  mosque  is  a  peculiar  and  striking  mosaic.  Each  slab 
of  white  marble  is  about  three  and  a  half  feet  by  eighteen 
inches,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  black  marble  border  of  the 
same  material. 

There  are  a  number  of  what  are  claimed  to  be  relics 
of  Mohammed  in  the  mosque,  one  a  hair  from  his  beard 
and  the  other  a  pair  of  slippers.  These  are  carefully 
preserved  in  a  glass  case.  The  hair  looks  just  like  a 
thread  from  the  hirsute  appendage  of  any  man,  and  the 
slippers  indicate  that  the  Holy  Prophet  was  not  as  careful 
of  his  footwear  as  he  might  have  been.  They  are  woe- 
fully dilapidated.  Strange  as  it  may  appear,  I  was  not  a 
bit  impressed  by  the  presence  of  these  sacred  mementos 
of  the  great  head  of  the  Mussulman  Church. 

The  imperial  palace  at  Delhi  is  located  within  the  walls 
of  the  citadel.  It  was  built,  like  the  Taj-]\Iahal,  by  the 
Shah  Jehan,  and  is  in  a  complete  state  of  preservation. 
It  vies  in  magnificence  with  the  other  monuments  of  the 
Mogul  dynasty.  It  is  composed  mainly  of  two  audience 
chambers,  a  greater  and  a  lesser.  Each  of  these  chambers 
is  open  in  front,  and  so  placed  that  the  great  ruler,  while 
seated  upon  his  throne,  could  view  the  assemblage  that 
perhaps  often  filled  the  apartment  and  the  grounds  in 
front.  In  both  of  these  chambers  is  a  marble  throne. 
The  smaller  room  is  noted  as  the  location  of  the  "  Peacock 


276  WHAT  I  SAW, 

Throne,"  celebrated  in  history  as  the  finest  and  most 
costly  bauble  of  royalty.  It  is,  or  rather  was,  for  it  has 
been  despoiled,  six  feet  long  and  four  feet  wide,  composed 
of  solid  gold,  inlaid  with  precious  stones,  and  surmounted 
by  a  gold  canopy,  resting  on  twelve  columns  of  the  same 
precious  metal.  Around  the  canopy  hung  a  fringe  of 
pearls.  On  each  side  of  the  throne*  proper  stood  umbrel- 
las, the  Mogul  symbol  of  royalty^  formed  of  crimson  vel- 
vet, richly  embroidered  with  gold  thread  and  pearls,  and 
with  handles  of  solid  gold,  eight  feet  long,  studded  with 
diamonds.  The  back  of  the  throne  was  a  representation 
of  the  expanded  tail  of  a  peacock,  the  natural  colors  of 
which  were  imitated  by  sapphires,  rubies,  emeralds,  dia- 
monds, and  other  brilliant  gems.  For  this  throne  the 
Shah  Jehah  expended  the  sum  of  nearly  thirty  millions  of 
dollars. 

This  famous  throne  was  despoiled  by  the  Persian  con- 
queror. Nadir  Shah,  on  the  occasion  of  one  of  those  peri- 
odical invasions  the  precise  dates  of  which  have  become 
uncertain.  The  walls  and  other  parts  of  the  chamber  were 
fiirnished  with  equal  magnificence,  but  nearly  every  thing 
of  value  that  was  transportable  was  carried  away  during 
the  sacking  of  the  city  at  different  times  by  the  Persians 
and  the  English.  Among  other  rich  loot  taken  from 
the  imperial  palace  at  Delhi  was  the  solid  silver  plates 
which  composed  the  roof  of  this  same  room.  The  filigree 
work  which  adorns  the  cornices  and  capitals  of  the  chamber 
is  formed  of  white  marble  inlaid  with  pure  gold.  In  each 
angle  of  the  room  is  engraved  in  Arabic  the  lines  which 
have  been  made  immortal  by  Moore  in  "  Lalla  Rookh," 

"  If  there  be  an  Elysium  on  earth 
It  is  this!     It  is  this!" 

I  can  only  say  that  I  agree  fully  with  the  artist  in  his 
estimate  of  his  own  production. 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  277 

Adjoining  this  smaller  audience  chamber,  as  I  have 
said,  is  the  larger  room  devoted  to  the  receptions  accorded 
to  the  nobles  and  ministers  of  his  court.  The  walls  are 
of  the  purest  marble,  and  were  inlaid  with  precious  stones. 
These  valuables  were  all  taken  away  at  the  time  the  city 
was  destroyed.  The  holes  in  the  marble  where  they 
were  imbedded  still  remain. 

Human  life  to  these  Mogul  kings  was  but  a  toy,  to 
be  played  with,  enjoyed  or  sacrificed  as  the  humor  of  the 
sovereign  suggested.  Religious  persecution  was  carried  to 
an  extent  scarcely  equaled  in  the  darkest  history  of  the 
world.  In  the  space  of  an  acre,  shown  by  the  guide, 
one  king  had  no  less  than  one  hundred  thousand  persons 
executed  because  they  would  not  forswear  their  religion 
and  become  followers  of  Mohammed.  As  I  walked  over  the 
ground  and  thought  of  the  horrors  that  it  had  witnessed, 
I  could  no  longer  wonder  at  the  downflill  of  the  kingdom. 
Great  had  been  the  sins  of  the  people  and  terrible  was 
the  retribution. 

Delhi,  as  the  capital  of  the  nominal  ISIogul  Empire,  was 
the  scene  of  some  of  the  most  notable  events  of  the  mutiny 
of  1857.  The  outbreak  occurred  here  on  the  27th  of 
May,  and  was  caused  directly  by  the  advent  of  a  body  of 
mutineers  who  arrived  from  Meerut,  where  they  had  mur- 
dered every  European  resident,  and  succeeded  in  passing 
the  gates  before  they  could  be  closed  against  them.  They 
were  soon  joined  by  the  sepoys  stationed  here,  in  murder- 
ing the  European  inhabitants.  No  mercy  was  shown  to 
age  or  sex.  Delicate  woman  were  stripped  of  their  cloth- 
ing, turned  naked  into  the  streets,  beaten  with  bamboos, 
pelted  with  filth  and  abandoned  to  the  lust  of  the  blood- 
stained barbarians  until  death  came  to  their  relief.  It  is 
said  that  at  first  the  king  refused  to  join  the  movement, 
but  he  was  soon   borne  alono;  bv  the   irresistible  current. 


278  WHAT  I  SAW, 

He  proclaimed  himself,  with  much  parade  and  circum- 
stance, king  of  all  India,  but  it  is  a  notable  fact  that  he 
never  wielded  power  outside  the  walls  of  the  city,  and 
very  little  in  it,  as  the  insurgents  were  never  any  thing 
more  than  a  half  organized  mob,  who  were  dispersed  read- 
ily at  any  time  by  one-tenth  their  number  of  disciplined 
English  soldiery.  Guns  were  mounted  and  defiance  thrown 
by  the  insurgents  at  Delhi  to  the  British  nation.  The 
British  force  approached  on  the  30th  of  May,  and  from 
that  day  until  the  final  assault  and  reduction  of  the  city 
on  the  *20th  of  September,  the  contests  were  continuous. 
The  king  and  his  family  were  captured.  The  former, 
being  upwards  of  ninety  years  of  age,  and  scarcely  respon- 
sible for  his  acts,  was  spared,  but  his  two  sons  and  grand- 
son were  led  out  and  summarily  shot.  Thus  went  down 
in  a  sea  of  blood  the  last  remnant  of  the  Moguls,  and 
the  great  empire,  rivaling  Babylon  in  magnificence  and 
crime,  passed  into  history  and  tradition. 

There  are  features  of  attractiveness  in  the  Delhi  of  to- 
day that  have  no  direct  connection  with  the  ancient  mag- 
nificence of  the  Mogul  dynasties,  or  the  bitter  recollections 
of  the  more  recent  mutiny  and  its  attendant  horrors.  The 
Queen's  Gardens,  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  a  park  which 
has  been  laid  out  by  the  English  authorities  since  the 
suppression  of  the  outbreak  of  1857,  is  a  beautiful  place, 
kept  in  complete  condition  by  the  government. 

The  principal  street  of  Delhi,  the  Chandee  Chowk,  is 
still  an  attractive  thoroughfare,  though  possessing  few  of 
the  features  of  the  Strand,  in  London,  or  New  York's 
Broadway.  From  early  in  the  morning  until  evening,  it 
is  thronged  with  elephants,  camels,  bullocks,  and  other 
beasts  of  burden,  arriving  with  grain  and  other  produc- 
tions of  the  surrounding  plains,  and  returning  with  the 
articles  of  merchandise  received  in  exchange.    After  night- 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  279 

fall  the  scene  changes,  and  the  busy  mart  of  trade  is 
transformed  into  a  pleasure  ground,  where  gayly  dressed 
natives  mingle  with  European  residents,  officials,  and 
travelers,  and  the  Brahmin  good-naturedly  jostles  his  Mo- 
hammedan neighbor,  and  each  pass  with  a  look  of  jiitying 
contempt  the  unobtrusive  Christian. 

During  our  brief  stay  in  Delhi  Mrs.  Converse  accepted 
an  invitation  to  visit  a  Mohammedan  harem.  I  wanted 
to  go  along,  but  was  refused  permission.  That  was  really 
unkind.  Ever  since  I  was  a  boy  and  read  of  the  beautiful 
houris  of  the  Turkish  seraglios  and  other  blood-warming 
details  which  did  not  improve  my  limited  stock  of  youth- 
ful morals,  I  have  been  anxious  to  study  the  internal 
economy  of  a  harem.  I  have  a  fancy  that  my  faculty  of 
appreciation  would  be  equal  to  the  occasion.  But  there 
was  no  use  calculating  upon  an  impossibility,  and  so  I  will 
endeavor  to  be  content,  as  in  the  past,  with  wondering 
whether  the  story  of  the  curious  Dudu,  as  told  by  Byron, 
-  really  was  an  exaggeration.  Mrs.  C.  reported  little  of  her 
observations  beyond  a  resume  of  the  information  gained 
concerning  some  features  of  social  life  among  the  Hindoos. 
In  the  harem  which  she  visited,  there  were  no  less  than 
three  generations  of  females,  the  oldest  of  whom  is  the 
mistress,  and  at  her  death  is  succeeded  by  the  next  in  age. 
In  India,  as  some  of  my  readers  are  aware,  the  children 
are  married  at  a  very  early  age,  frequently  as  young  as 
from  two  to  five  years.  These  marriages  are,  of  course, 
arranged  wholly  by  the  parents,  and  are  made  the  occasion 
of  grand  festivals,  which  last,  among  the  wealthier  natives, 
from  two  to  five  days.  These  extremely  early  marriages 
are  not  the  rule,  but  are  not  by  any  means  exceptional. 
In  this  tropical  country  the  human  fruit  ripens  at  an 
early  age,  and  it  is  not  uncommon  to  see  a  Hindoo  mother 
whose  years  do  not  exceed  twelve.     However  young  the 


280  WHAT  I  SAW, 

children  may  be  when  murrietl,  they  do  not  live  together 
until  the  age  of  puberty  has  arrived,  which  with  boys  in 
India  is  about  twelve,  and  with  girls  from  ten  to  eleven. 
The  marriage  festivities  of  the  lower  classes  differ  from 
those  of  the  wealthy  only  in  proportion  to  the  difference 
in  the  ability  of  the  parents  to  afford  the  expense.  Among 
the  lower  classes,  when  the  husband  and  wife  have  com- 
menced to  live  together,  it  is  the  custom  to  paint  on  the 
door  of  the  hut  a  rude  figure  of  an  elephant,  Avhich  is  inter- 
preted to  mean  that  the  occupants  are  in  the  first  year  of 
their  married  life,  and  that  the  bride  is  privileged  to 
receive  calls.  Many  of  these  huts  have  I  seen  where  the 
newly  married  girl  was  busying  herself  gathering  the 
fresh  excrement  of  cattle  and  with  her  shajjely  hands 
forming  it  into  thin  cakes  to  dry  in  the  sun,  preparatory 
to  being  used  for  fuel.  Will  my  aesthetic  lady  readers 
mentally  gaze  ujwn  the  picture  for  a  moment,  and  fancy 
themselves  making  a  call  upon  a  Hindoo  bride  of  low 
caste  and  staying  to  tea?  But  I  haven't  the  slightest 
doubt  these  benighted  Hindoos  are  as  happy  and  con- 
tented as  are  the  queenly  ladies  of  fashion  in  America, 
who  bewilder  the  senses  of  the  unthinking  public,  and 
deplete  the  pockets  of  their  husbands  by  their  elegant 
costumes  of  silks,  velvets,  and  laces.  Happiness  is  the 
result  more  of  education  than  aught  else.  In  the  language 
of  the  street :  "  It 's  all  owing  to  how  a  person  is  raised !  " 

From  Delhi  we  move  in  a  south-west  direction  to 
Jeypoor,  in  the  province  of  Rajpootana;  thence  to  the 
coast,  near  the  Gulf  of  Cutch,  and  from  thence  by  rail  to 
Bombay. 

We  were  reminded  yesterday  of  the  advent  of  a  new  year 
by  the  compliment  of  a  serenade  by  a  native  brass  band, 
who  visited  our  hotel  and  rendered  "  Hail  Columbia,"  and 
other  American  national  airs,  in  a  very  accei)table  manner. 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  281 

We  appreciated  the  compliment,  and,  as  in  duty  bound, 
became  duly  afflicted  with  a  mild  attack  of  nostalgia,  or 
home-sickness.  Perhaps,  few  of  my  readers  have  ever 
found  themselves  wandering  in  strange  lands,  and  listening 
to  the  familiar  strains  of  America's  national  airs.  To  such 
I  can  say  that  no  music  ever  sounded  so  sweet,  and  the 
breast  swells  with  pride  as  the  mind  wanders  back  over 
the  thousands  of  miles  of  intervening  land  and  sea  to 
that  glorious  land  of  the  stars  and  stripes,  that  land 
chosen  of  God  and  blessed  as  no  nation  ever  before  was 
blessed.  In  all  my  wanderings,  through  lands  in  most 
parts  of  the  habitable  globe,  I  have  drawn  a  mental  pic- 
ture of  comparison,  and  each  day  found  renewed  reasons 
for  thankfulness  that  I  am  an  American.  Nowhere  are 
the  people  so  prosperous  and  hap})y,  nowhere  are  the 
breezes  so  pleasant,  nowhere  does  the  sun  shine  so  bright, 
nowhere  are  the  blessings  of  Providence  so  bountifully 
showered  as  in  ray  own  America. 

Our  guide  in  Delhi  was  a  highly  educated  and  accom- 
plished native  Hindoo,  Budri  Dhas,  and  I  feel  that  I  but 
imperfectly  repay  his  many  acts  of  kind  consideration 
when  I  commend  him  to  the  attention  of  all  tourists. 
He  speaks  English  perfectly,  and  his  knowledge  of  Delhi, 
its  history  and  traditions,  is  thorough.  He  is  a  thorough 
Brahmin,  with  implicit  confidence  in  the  teachings  of  his 
religion,  but  at  the  same  time  holding  liberal  ideas  of  toler- 
ance toward  other  beliefs.  This  toleration,  however,  does 
not  extend  to  the  Mohammedans.  He  hates  the  followers 
of  the  Prophet  with  a  most  unholy  hatred,  and  never 
neglects  an  opportunity  to  anathematize  them  viciously, 
holding  them,  by  some  obscure  process  of  reasoning,  re- 
sponsible for  the  evils  that  have  befallen  his  country.  I, 
of  course,  agreed  with  him.  I  always  agree  with  a  guide. 
And  let  me  say  to  all  jjersons  contemplating  travel,  never 


282  WHAT  I  SAW, 

presume  to  differ  with  a  guide,  or  for  a  moment  dispute 
his  most  extravagant  assertions.  If  you  do  you  arouse  his 
contempt,  and  the  contempt  of  a  guide  is  something  ter- 
rible. Mental  reservations  are  the  tourist's  only  recourse. 
If  a  Hindoo  chaperon  tells  you  George  Washington  was 
a  Brahmin  and  worshiped  at  the  sacred  shrine  in  Benares, 
do  n't  dispute  it.  If  he  imparts  the  startling  information 
that  Christ  became  a  follower  of  Mohammed  before  his  cru- 
cifixion, and  died  in  the  faith,  you  will  rise  several  degrees 
in  his  estimation  if  you  express  your  gratification.  Guides 
are  an  institution,  and,  as  a  class,  are  the  monumental 
liars  of  the  age.  Budri  .Dhas,  however,  is  the  most  intel- 
ligent, the  most  accommodating,  and  the  nearest  approach 
to  reliable  that  I  have  met  in  my  travels. 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  283 


XXIV. 

The  Tour  of  Ixdia  Continued — The  Author  a  Guest  of  Roy- 
alty— From  Jeypoor  to  the  Coast — Bombay  and  its  Sur- 
roundings— The  "Tower  of  Silence" — How  the  Parsees  Dis- 
pose of  their  Dead — The  Wonderful  Temple  on  Elephaxta 
Island — A  Modification  of  Programme— Egypt,  the  Holy 
Land,  Turkey  and  Greece  Cut  Out. 

Bombay,  India,  Jatmary  j,  1882. 

Our  tour  of  India  is  ended.  During  the  past  twenty- 
four  days  our  wanderings  have  been  made  to  inchide  the 
principal  points  of  interest  of  this  vast  Oriental  empire, 
though  by  no  means  have  we  seen  the  greater  part  of  the 
country.  This  could  not  be  done  in  less  than  a  vear,  and 
even  then  the  tourist  would  be  compelled  to  neglect  much 
that  would  prove  interesting.  Our  time  was  limited,  and 
we  selected  those  parts  which  are  richest  in  relics  of  the  past 
and  most  prolific  of  impressions  of  the  Hindoo  present. 
Had  it  been  possible,  we  would  have  been  pleased  to 
extend  our  trip  to  the  Himalayas,  that  vast  mountain 
range  that  stretches  across  the  north-eastern  frontier  of 
India,  and  forms  the  boundary  of  Thibet.  The  means  of 
conveyance  are,  however,  very  primitive,  and  the  time  and 
physical  exertion  necessary  scarcely  justified  by  the  results. 

After  leaving  Delhi,  we  went  south-west  to  the  city  of 
Jeypoor,  the  capital  of  the  province  of  Rajpootana.  This 
province  did  not  participate  in  the  mutiny  of  1857,  and 
in  consequence  remains  under  the  immediate  control  of 
the  Rajah,  though  paying  tribute  to  the  English.     All  the 


284  WHA  T  I SA  ]V, 

local  law.s  and  customs  are  purely  Hindoo.  As  the  coun- 
try lias  never  been  invaded  or  the  city  overthrown,  it 
remains  as  it  has  been  for  countless  years,  and  is  2)erhaj)S 
the  best  point  in  India  to  study  the  native  character.  The 
city  is  unlike  any  we  have  seen,  and  by  some  travelers 
is  said  to  be  the  handsomest  in  India.  The  buildings  are 
all  of  brick,  plastered  on  the  outside  with  a  pinkish  yel- 
low composition.  All  arc  two  stories  high,  and  scarcely  a 
building  has  an  appearance  different  from  the  others.  The 
streets  are  about  one  hundred  feet  wide,  are  lit  with  gas, 
and  diversified  with  numerous  squares,  where  fountains 
and  other  j)leasing  ornamentations  arc  located.  The  city 
is  quite  large,  and  fully  inclosed  by  an  ancient  wall.  This 
latter  was  doubtless  a  thorough  protection  against  arrows, 
catapults  and  similar  j^rimitive  engines  of  war,  but  would 
not  stand  against  the  heavy  artillery  of  the  present  day 
for  twenty-four  hours.  The  people  of  the  province  are, 
however,  so  quiet  and  peacefully  disposed,  so  inclined  to 
smoothly  accept  their  position  as  a  dependency  of  the 
English  crown,  that  there  is  little  probability  the  test  will 
ever  be  made. 

The  people  of  Eajpootana  are  the  most  contented  and 
pleasantly  situated  of  any  part  of  India  Ave  have  seen. 
The  traveler  sees  little  of  the  squalor  and  wretchedness, 
the  discontent  and  evident  repression,  which  is  so  a2)par- 
ent  elsewhere.  The  contrast  is  so  glaring  as  to  attract 
attention  at  once.  At  Jeypoor  there  are  no  foreign 
residents. 

We  went  to  the  School  of  Arts,  and  the  manager,  a 
native,  who  spoke  excellent  English,  paid  us  the  kindest 
attention,  exhibiting  and  explaining  the  methods  of  in- 
struction with  evident  pleasure.  In  reply  to  the  query  of 
where  he  learned  the  English  language,  he  said  the  school 
kept  up  by  the  government  taught  English   as  well  as 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  285 

native.  I  asted  this  gentleman  concerning  the  missionary 
worli.  He  replied  that  it  was  productive  of  good  inas- 
much and  to  the  extent  that  it  educates  the  children  of 
the  poor  without  any  expense  to  the  government.  He 
also  expressed  the  opinion  that  genuine  conversions  to 
Christianity  are  very  rare;  that  a  Hindoo  remains  a  Hin- 
doo at  heart,  though  he  may  profess  to  be  a  Christian;  if 
an  apparent  change  to  Christianity  will  tend  to  enhance 
his  temporal  welfare  he  may  profess  conversion,  but  so 
soon  as  he  can  no  longer  profit  by  the  teachings  of  the 
missionaries  the  latent  idolatry  will  reassert  itself.  This  is 
undoubtedly  true,  and  is  sustained  by  the  unanimous 
testimony  Avhich  we  have  secured  throughout  the  East. 
How  long  the  American  people  can  afford  to  contribute 
money  to  educate  the  subjects  of  Great  Britain  on  this 
side  of  the  earth,  while  thousands  of  home  heathens  are 
suffering  from  the  lack  of  instruction,  is  a  problem  which 
they  alone  can  solve.  As  I  have  previously  said,  my  faith 
in  the  W'ork  of  foreign  missions  is  very  limited.  The 
trite  aphorism,  "every  man  should  first  clean  his  own 
dooryard,"  can  be  applied  to  the  missionary  work  with 
much  justice  and  equal  practical  benefit.  I  have  a  much 
kinder  feeling  for  the  missionary  work  in  Japan  than  any 
other  country  we  have  been  in.  There  is  a  simplicity  and 
w^illingness  to  accept  teaching  in  the  Japanese  character 
that  is  not  found  among  the  Hindoos.  The  latter  are  as 
firmly  convinced  that  the  beastly  practices  of  Brahminism 
are  the  true  and  only  religion  as  any  Christian  can  be 
that  Christ  is  the  head  of  the  only  genuine  faith.  The 
Mohammedans  are,  if  any  difference  is  apparent,  more 
bigoted  and  less  tolerant  than  the  Brahmins. 

We  only  remained  at  Jeypoor  one  day,  but  it  was  a 
day  of  the  pleasantest  enjoyment,  devoted  to  Inspecting 
the   peculiarities   of  a   city   that    has   probably   remained 


286  WHAT  I  SAW, 

wholly  unchanged  in  its  features  during  the  lapse  of  a 
thousand  years.  It  was  the  first  we  visited  that  had  ex- 
perienced none  of  the  iconoclastic  influences  of  "civil- 
ization." 

We  stopped  at  a  Dak  Bungaloo,  or,  as  it  would  be 
called  in  America,  a  stage  hotel,  outside  the  wall.  The 
traveler  is  only  allowed  to  remain  twenty-four  hours,  but 
we  made  the  best  possible  use  of  our  brief  sojourn.  This 
restriction  is  not,  as  I  learned,  owing  to  any  feeling 
against  foreigners,  but  because  of  the  limited  accommoda- 
tions for  travelers,  rendering  it  necessary  for  visitors  to 
give  way  to  others.  Every  thing  about  the  place  was 
neat  and  clean,  and  the  accommodations  generally  all  that 
any  one  could  ask  or  expect  to  receive. 

The  day  of  our  stay  was  the  occasion  of  a  grand  fete, 
not  arranged,  perhaps,  in  our  honor,  but  in  which,  never- 
thelesss,  we  played  a  somewhat  prominent  and  wholly 
unexpected  part.  The  Rajah  appeared  at  4  P,  M.  on  the 
plaza,  and  the  occasion  was  made  one  of  gorgeous  display. 
The  streets  were  lined  with  elephants,  camels,  and  bullock 
carts,  decked  in  all  the  magnificence  of  holiday  trappings. 
The  Rajah,  or  king,  sustains  an  English  school  at  his 
individual  expense,  and  the  cause  of  all  this  royal  display 
was  a  pul)llc  recitation,  or,  as  we  would  call  it  at  home, 
an  "examination,"  conducted  in  the  central  square  or  park 
of  the  city.  This  is  an  open  space  of  about  four  acres, 
and  around,  covering  an  area  of  nearly  forty  acres,  is  a 
beautiful  garden  of  fruits  and  flowers.  At  5  P.  M.  we 
responded  to  an  invitation  and  went  to  the  gate,  and  were 
invited  to  enter.  We  accepted  the  invitation,  and  upon 
further  request  seated  ourselves  in  chairs  near  the  prin- 
cipal stand.  In  a  few  moments  His  Royal  Highness  ap- 
peared with  his  ministers  of  state  and  other  dignitaries. 
He  first  greeted  some  officials  and  then  politely  salaamed 


AND  HO  W  I  SAW  IT.  287 

to  us,  and  took  a  seat  the  sixth  from  ours.  We  were 
seated  next  to  the  minister  of  war.  All  the  officials 
were  dressed  in  their  state  robes.  That  of  the  Rajah  was 
especially  noticed  for  its  elegance.  He  wore  a  silver 
turban,  a  loose  robe  trimmed  with  gold  lace  and  jewels, 
white  pantaloons,  and  on  his  ankles  gold  rings,  which 
sparkled  with  settings  of  brilliant  diamonds.  He  sat  in 
the  center  of  his  officials  and  conferred  the  prizes  upon 
the  winners  in  the  contest.  All  the  proceedings  were  in 
English. 

Outside  the  line  of  officials  and  attaches  of  the  court 
was  a  solid  phalanx  of  mounted  lancers,  and  beyond  them 
the  dense  masses  of  people  stretched  away  until  they  filled 
the  streets  leading  to  the  square.  We  were  presented  with 
a  programme  of  the  exercises,  and  Mrs.  C.  was  made  the 
recipient  of  a  handsome  bouquet,  indirectly  from  the  hands 
of  the  Rajah.  These  we  will  retain  as  souvenirs  of  our 
first,  and  perhaps  last,  intercourse  with  royalty. 

The  Rajah,  I  almost  neglected  to  say,  is  a  handsome 
man,  and  bears  his  royal  honors  with  becoming  dignity. 
The  conversation  which  we  had  with  the  officials  was  car- 
ried on  in  pure  English,  as  free  from  foreign  accent  as 
is  spoken  by  natives  of  the  States.  The  pupils  all  ac- 
quitted themselves  creditably.  One  feature  of  the  dra- 
matic part  of  the  entertainment  was  amusing.  It  was  a 
representation  of  a  jury  trial,  where  the  lawyers  pleaded 
ably  and  vigorously,  the  judge  delivered  his  charge  with 
solomn  dignity,  and  the  jury  imitated  to  perfection  the 
assumption  of  owl-like  wisdom  that  distinguishes  the  av- 
erage jury  in  America. 

After  thanking  the  officials  for  the  pleasure  we  had 
experienced  in  being  permitted  to  attend  the  exhibition, 
we  were  returned  to  our  hotel  with  a  driver  and  footman 
to  attend  us. 


288  WHAT  I  SAW, 

It  would  have  given  us  great  jileasure  to  remain  a  day- 
longer  at  Jeypoor  to  witness  a  novelty,  being  a  fight  be- 
tween two  elephants.  The  Eajah  has  a  number  of  these 
animals,  and  two  of  them  had  become  vicious.  He  was 
going  to  utilize  their  bad  temper  by  providing  an  amuse- 
ment for  his  people.  Circumstances  combined,  however, 
to  render  our  longer  stay  inexpedient.  Consequently,  we 
were  off  the  next  morning  at  six  o'clock. 

In  India  nobody  except  the  tourist  is  in  a  hurry. 
Like  the  people  of  other  countries,  the  predisposition  to 
distaste  for  exertion  finds  its  most  pronounced  express- 
sion  in  an  abhorrence  of  early  rising,  which  nothing  but 
the  most  persistent  and  urgent  demands  will  overcome. 
This  was  our  experience  at  the  hotel  in  Jeypoor.  The 
amount  of  racket  which  I  raised  around  that  house  at  half- 
past  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  would  have  put  to  shame 
a  howling  dervish  or  an  uxorious  torn  cat.  My  first  foray 
was  upon  the  quarters  of  the  cook,  Avhom  I  found  enjoying 
a  sleep  so  profound  that  my  most  vigorous  efforts  were 
scarcely  sufficient  to  arouse  him.  Finally,  however,  I 
succeeded  jiartlally  in  bringing  him  to  a  realization  of  the 
unsatisfactory  condition  of  affairs,  and  started  next  for  the 
hut  of  the  gharry  driver,  at  the  other  end  of  the  com- 
pound. After  an  amount  of  physical  exertion  to  which  I 
am  not  inured,  I  got  him  awake.  He  could  not  under- 
stand a  word  of  English,  and  In  order  to  bring  my  desires 
within  the  scope  of  his  comprehension  I  ran  vigorously 
up  and  dovv^n  before  him.  Imitating  the  sound  of  a  loco- 
motive with  my  voice  and  causing  my  arms  to  work  like 
the  driving  rods  of  the  same  jiiece  of  machinery.  ^Vhat 
a  picture  I  presented!  It  certainly  was  less  dignified 
than  novel.  Having  secured  the  driver,  as  I  supposed,  I 
returned  to  the  bungalow  only  to  find  the  cook  fast  asleep. 
This  was  exasperating  in   the   extreme,  and  the  pointed 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  289 

nature  of  my  remarks,  expressed  in  the  most  vigorous 
English,  seemed  to  penetrate  his  benighted  mind,  and 
breakfast  was  soon  ready.  Returning  to  the  compound  to 
see  how  the  driver  was  getting  along,  I  found  him  lament- 
ing that  the  pole  of  the  gharry  was  broken  and  he  could 
not  go.  With  my  assistance,  however,  the  difficulty  was 
remedied,  and  soon,  having  partaken  of  breakfast,  we 
were  on  our  way  to  the  depot,  located  some  two  miles 
from  the  hotel.  This  latter  fact  is  one  peculiar  to  India. 
With  but  one  exception  we  found  the  depots  at  distances 
varying  from  one  to  three  miles  from  the  hotels.  The 
reason  I  never  heard  explained. 

Arriving  at  the  depot,  we  found  it  as  deserted  as  a 
last  year's  bird's-nest.  It  lacked  but  fifteen  minutes  of 
train  time,  and  as  the  minutes  flew  by  our  uneasiness  in- 
creased in  proportion.  At  last  an  official  made  his  appear- 
ance, to  whom  I  explained,  by  holding  up  two  fingers  and 
saying  "  Bombay,"  the  nature  of  our  desires.  Every 
thing  was  satisfactory,  and  soon  we  were  seated  in  the 
train,  moving  at  a  reasonably  rapid  rate  toward  the 
sea-shore. 

This  road,  running  from  Toondla  Junction,  on  the 
East  Indian  Railway,  to  Ahmedabad,  near  the  Gulf  of 
Cutch,  an  inlet  of  the  Arabian  Sea,  was  built  within  the 
past  few  years  by  the  Rajah  of  Rajpootana,  wholly  at  his 
individual  expense.  It  is  a  narrow  gauge,  but  seems  to 
answer  the  demands  of  a  limited  traffic  very  satisfactorily. 
In  our  route  over  the  level  plain  we  saw  vast  quantities 
of  birds  and  game,  such  as  storks,  cranes,  parrots,  peacocks, 
monkeys,  wolves,  jackals,  and  a  variety  of  two  and  four 
legged  creatures  whose  names  or  species  were  unknown  to  us. 
There  were  also  to  be  seen  myriads  of  Indian  buffiilo,  and 
numerous  caravans  of  camels  on  their  way  north  to  Afghan- 
istan, Persia,  and  the  Caspian  Sea.     The  country,  most  of 

19 


290  WHAT  I  SAW, 

the  way,  is  flat,  and  produces  large  crops  Of  wheat,  castor 
beans,  mustard  and  tobacco. 

This  part  of  India,  a  few  years  since,  suffered  greatly 
from  famine,  the  deaths  being  numbered  by  thousands. 
No  person  who  becomes  even  cursorily  acquainted  with 
the  customs,  habits,  and  prejudices  of  the  people  can  feel 
the  least  surprise.  Wild  game  is  everywhere  plenty,  but 
these  people  would  rather  starve  than  eat  flesh.  Every- 
where in  India  the  monkey  is  held  sacred,  and  so  absorb- 
ing is  the  bigotry  of  the  natives  that  while  they  were  suf- 
fering for  a  mouthful  of  food  they  would  look  complacently 
upon  these  pestiferous  little  animals  feeding  upon  their 
crops.  With  the  acquisition  of  this  knowledge  concerning 
the  wastage  of  the  crops  and  the  omnipresence  of  game, 
the  last  vestige  of  our  sympathy  for  the  victims  of  famine 
in  India  departed.  A  people  who  will  permit  their  re- 
ligious prejudices  to  lead  them  into  starvation  are  not 
entitled  to  the  sympathies  of  any  body. 

In  this  connection,  at  the  risk  of  being  considered 
prolix,  I  am  tem2)ted  to  wander  off  Into  a  perhaps  not 
profound  but  certainly  very  reasonable  disquisition  uj)on 
the  gracious  charity  that  begins  at  home.  But  I  forbear, 
simply  reminding  the  contributors  to  the  foreign  mission 
fund  that  we  really  have  not  enough  gospel  at  home  to  go 
around,  and  our  first  duty  is  to  properly  feed  and  instruct 
the  heathen  within  the  confines  of  our  own  country. 

We  saw  men  and  women  working;  on  a  new  railroad. 
There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  "  weaker  sex "  in  India, 
as  the  women  of  the  lower  caste  labor  in  the  fields,  and 
perform  similar  tasks  with  as  great  regularity  as  the  men. 
They  mingle  in  the  gangs,  and  I  suppose  exchange  ribald 
jokes  and  stories.  The  railroad  workers  carried  the  dirt 
In  baskets,  just  as  was  done  by  laborers  two  thousand 
years  ago.     These  women,  notwithstanding  they  were  en- 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  291 

gaged  in  such  a  menial  occupation,  wore  jewelry,  in  the 
form  of  rings  in  the  nose  and  ears,  and  bracelets  on  their 
arms  and  legs,  to  the  value  of  hundreds  of  dollars.  The 
inexorable  duties  of  a  Hindoo  are — first,  to  worship  his 
god,  and  second,  to  devote  him  or  herself  to  the  acquisition 
of  jewelry  with  which  to  ornament  the  person.  It  may  not 
be  necessary  for  me  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
latter  failing  is  not  confined  by  any  means  to  this  side  of 
the  earth.  In  more  fully  civilized  countries  than  India  it 
is  followed  with  a  zeal  that  almost  entirely  excludes  the 
former  from  consideration. 

'We  remained  at  the  town  of  Ahmedabad,  waiting  for 
a  train,  about  four  hours,  at  the  end  of  which  time  we 
were  taken  by  a  connecting  line  to  Baroda,  a  few  miles 
further  on,  at  which  point  another  change  was  made  to 
the  road  for  Bombay.  This  railroad  skirts  the  shore  of 
the  Arabian  Sea  from  that  point  to  Bombay,  a  distance 
of  about  four  hundred  miles. 

To-day,  Thursday,  January  5th,  we  arrived  at  Bombay. 
It  is  twenty-four  days  since  we  landed  at  Calcutta,  and 
we  have  not  lost  an  hour  by  lingering  over  novelties  that 
surrounded  us  on  every  side.  Although  we  think  we 
have  "  done "  India  pretty  thoroughly,  yet  there  are 
myriads  of  novel  scenes  that  we  have  not  seen.;  all  could 
not  be  included  in  a  tour  of  less  than  a  month,  and  we 
endeavor  to  satisfy  ourselves  by  the  reflection  that  our 
trip  has  included  the  most  attractive. 

Every  species  of  labor  throughout  India  is  conducted 
in  the  most  primitive  manner.  For  instance,  I  do  not 
suppose  there  is  a  pump  in  the  entire  empire.  The  wells 
are  numerous  and  deep,  and  the  water  pure,  but  it  is  uni- 
versally drawn  to  the  surface  in  buckets — bullocks  usually 
being  the  power  employed.  All  brick  are  made  by  hand, 
and  I  doubt  whether  the  idea  that  thev  could  be  manu- 


292  WHAT  I  SAW,  ' 

facturcd  in  any  other  way  ever  dawned  upon  "  Hindoo 
mind.  There  are  perha])S  reasons  for  this,  aside  from  the 
inai)ility  of  the  natives  to  appreciate  the  utility  of  labor- 
saving  machinery.  The  first  is  found  in  the  fact  that 
native  labor  is  cheaper  than  mechanical  appliances,  and 
this  creates  no  demand  for  machinery.  For  instance,  in 
the  manufacture  of  brick,  the  purchase  and  operation  of  a 
machine  that  would  turn  out  ten  thousand  per  day  would 
cost  the  manufacturer  more  than  the  hire  of  a  sufficient 
number  of  natives  to  accomplish  the  same  result.  Another 
theory  I  have  heard  in  explanation  of  the  Hindoos  being 
tardy  about  introducing  labor-saving  mechanism.  India 
has  an  immense  population  to  sustain — so  dense  that  people 
who  have  never  visited  the  country  can  form  but  little 
conception  of  it.  This  population  must  live  in  some  way. 
They  will  not  starve,  at  least  not  willingly,  and  the  intro- 
duction of  labor-saving  machinery  would  lessen  the  de- 
mand for  manual  labor,  and  throw  myriads  of  natives 
into  lives  of  beggary  or  crime.  A  large  proportion  of 
them  are  already  beggars  or  criminals,  but  it  is  contended 
that  the  numbers  would  be  largely  increased  by  the  intro- 
duction of  mechanical  appliances  for  performing  labor. 
Again,  there  are  no  farms  in  India,  as  w^e  Americans 
understand  the  Mord.  There  are  none  to  be  seen  in  any 
part  of  the  country  which  we  visited  that  would  not  be 
classed  as  a  "truck  patch"  in  America.  Consequently 
self-binding  reapers,  revolving  clod-crushers,  etc.,  could 
not  be  used  to  advantage.  It  is  also  doubtful  if  any  better 
results  could  be  obtained  than  under  the  present  primitive 
system.  Owing  to  the  dense  population  and  the  necessity 
for  utilizing  each  square  foot  of  the  land,  every  portion  is 
farmed  to  its  utmost  capacity.  The  means  adopted  are  very 
crude,  but  the  result  secured  is  greater  than  upon  the  Amer- 
ican farms  where  labor-saving  machinery  is  employed. 


AND  HOW  I  SA  WIT..  293 

Notwithstanding  the  prevalence  of  cholera  at  different 
points  in  India,  and  particularly  at  Bombay,  we  retain 
our  usual  health,  neither  of  us  having  been  sick  an  hour 
since  leaving  home. 

Our  tour  of  2,700  miles  in  India  closes  here,  and  a 
few  days  hence  we  bid  farewell  to  the  Orient.  Since  the 
construction  of  the  Suez  Canal  this  city  has  become  the 
"gate  of  India,"  superseding  Calcutta.  It  is  the  most 
European  like,  the  most  thoroughly  cosmopolitan,  of  the 
cities  we  have  visited.  Like  Singapore,  the  natives  of 
every  part  of  the  world  gather  at  Bombay  and  mingle  in 
one  busy,  energetic  struggle  for  that  ignis  fatuus  of  life — 
success.  The  city  stands  upon  an  island,  a  fact  that  escapes 
the  first  observation  of  fr^le  traveler.  The  total  population 
is  estimated  at  more  than  a  million,  composed  largely  of 
Europeans,  with  a  sprinkling  of  Americans.  Here,  per- 
haps to  a  greater  extent  than  elsewhere  in  the  East,  the 
natives  compete  with  the  Caucasians  in  commerce  and 
trade,  and  many  of  the  Hindoos  and  Parsees  are  im- 
mensely wealthy,  the  result  of  an  enterj^rise  and  shrewd- 
ness that  is  comparatively  unknown  elsewhere.  Many  of 
the  natives  of  Calcutta,  Benares,  Lucknow^,  and  other 
places,  are  possessed  of  great  wealth,  but  it  is  not  the 
result  of  successful  trade. 

The  name  Bombay  is  a  corruption  of  the  Portuguese 
Buon  Bahia,  meaning  good  harbor,  a  term  that  is  not  be- 
lied by  the  safe  haven  for  vessels  which  the  roadstead 
provides.  The  city  is  one  of  the  oldest  of  the  British 
possessions  in  the  East.  The  natives  are  not  only  engaged 
largely  in  trade,  but  they  have  adopted  to  a  great  extent 
the  customs  of  civilized  countries.  This  is  noticeable  in  the 
almost  entire  absence  of  the  architectural  features  that 
distinguish  in  other  places  the  residences  of  the  Hindoos. 
In  Bombay  it  is  difficult  to  tell  the  homes  of  the  wealthy 


294  WHAT  I  SAW, 

natives  from  those  of  Europeans.  Many  of  these  natives 
asi)ire  to  and  secure  positions  under  the  government, 
several  being  members  of  the  Legislative  Council. 

Outside  of  the  Europeans,  the  wealth,  commerce,  and 
trade  of  Bombay  is  largely  in  the  hands  of  the  Parsees,  a 
peculiar  sect  who  were  not  native  Hindoos  originally. 
History  assigns  them  to  Persia.  They  are  the  disciples 
of  Zoroaster,  and  are  known  as  "fire-worshipers."  The 
sect  is  still  quite  numerous  in  Persia,  from  whence 
those  now  resident  in  western  India  emigrated  about  the 
seventh  century.  The  Parsees  are  universally  well  edu- 
cated, wealthy,  and  singularly  pure  in  their  personal  habits 
and  family  relations.  With  them  the  worship  of  idols  is 
prohibited,  though  they  venerate  the  sun  and  fire  as  the 
emblems  of  divine  power.  Celibacy  they  consider  dis- 
pleasing to  God,  but  polygamy  is  not  tolerated.  They 
have  their  temples  or  houses  of  worship,  but  they  are  de- 
void of  the  tawdry  ornamentation  and  beastly  practices 
that  distinguish  the  shrines  of  the  Brahmins  and  Buddhists. 
Almost  the  only  distinguishing  feature  of  a  Parsee  place  of 
worship  is  an  altar,  on  which  is  kept  burning  a  sacred  fire, 
which  is  never  allowed  to  become  extinguished,  and  which 
is  fed  by  spices  and  other  aromatic  woods.  Their  religion 
enjoins  charity,  hospitality,  honesty,  industry,  and  obedi- 
ence to  constituted  authority;  and  forbids  anger,  hatred, 
envy,  quarreling,  and  every  species  of  licentiousness.  As 
a  consequence,  the  Parsees  are  universally  good  citizens, 
and  would  be  an  acquisition  to  any  country. 

Outside  the  city  itself,  which  presents  few  novelties, 
there  are  but  two  sights  in  the  vicinity  of  Bombay  calcu- 
lated to  especially  attract  the  attention  of  the  traveler — 
the  "  Tower  of  Silence "  or  Parsee  funeral  pile,  and  the 
Elephantine  Temple.  The  former  is  located  about  four 
miles  from  the  city,  on  Malabar  Hill,  in  the  midst  of  a 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  295 

dense  grove  of  palms.  The  tower  rises  above  the  trees, 
and  resembles  nothing  more  than  a  huge  gasometer  or 
*'  stand-pi})e  "  for  water-works.  We  approached  the  spot 
in  a  carriage  and  mounted  the  steps  leading  to  the  tower, 
passing  through  an  arched  gateway  and  entering  a  pretty 
garden  of  j)lants  and  trees.  The  strict  rules  of  the  Parsees 
forbid  entrance,  but  a  combination  of  American  ingenuity, 
"  cheek,"  and  British  gold  secured  us  the  favor.  The 
tower  is  roofless,  and  at  the  bottom  is  located  a  large 
grating,  upon  which  the  body  of  the  deceased  is  placed, 
being  pushed  through  a  small  door  at  the  side.  There  it 
is  allowed  to  remain  until  the  flesh  is  all  picked  from  the 
bones  by  the  ever  waiting  vultures,  a  process  which  does  • 
not  occupy  more  than  twenty  minutes.  The  osseous  re- 
mains are  then  collected  by  the  friends  and  passed  through 
a  chemical  process  which  entirely  destroys  them.  The 
mourners  stay  in  the  temple  just  inside  the  front  gate, 
and  engage  in  prayers  while  the  deceased  is  being  con- 
sumed by  the  vultures.  No  one  is  permitted  to  witness 
the  horrid  work  of  the  birds,  and  not  a  word  is  spoken 
during  the  time  the  funeral  cortege  remains  at  the  tower. 
All  the  mourners  are  dressed  in  pure  white.  While  we 
were  there,  there  was  not  the  slightest  offensive  odor  ap- 
parent. We  saw  hundreds  of  the  vultures  sitting  on  the 
apex  of  the  tower  or  circling  in  the  air  over  head,  appar- 
ently well  satisfied  with  their  breakfast,  which  had  just 
been  served  them.  These  funeral  services  occur  only  in 
the  morning  or  evening. 

We  went  to  visit  the  celebrated  cave  of  idols  on  Ele- 
phanta  Island,  some  ten  miles  from  the  city.  From  the 
landing  we  ascended  an  easy  flight  of  steps  to  a  spacious 
plateau,  more  than  a  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  This  is  shaded  by  groups  of  palm  trees,  as,  in  fact, 
is  the   entire   island.      The  face  of  the  middle  of  three 


296  WHA  T  1  SA  W, 

mountains  is  cut  down  perpendicularly,  presenting  a  front 
of  smooth,  hard  blue  rock.  Into  this  is  cut  a  subter- 
ranean temple,  wonderful  as  a  work  of  art,  accomplished 
ages  ago,  before  gunpowder,  dynamite,  or  nitro-glycerine 
had  been  dreamed  of  The  temple  is  about  one  hun- 
dred feet  wide  and  three  hundred  deep,  the  vaulted  roof 
being  supported  by  pillars  left  by  the  workmen  in  their 
excavations.  There  are  a  great  many  of  these,  and  all 
are  about  four  feet  in  diameter  and  twenty-seven  feet  high. 
All  are  elaborately  carved.  Every  detail  of  the  four 
chambers  into  which  it  is  divided  is  complete,  and  so 
thorough  is  the  work  done  that  it  is  difficult  to  realize 
that  every  thing  is  carved  from  the  undisturbed  rock. 
The  floor  is  as  smooth  and  lev^el  as  it  could  be  made. 

Standing  just  within  the  entrance  the  visitor  confronts 
the  further  wall,  distant  about  three  hundred  feet.  Here 
is  a  colossal  image,  or  rather  three  images  combined,  rep- 
resenting Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Siva.  The  first,  as  the 
creative  power,  has  a  calm,  contemplative  expression ;  the 
second,  being  the  preservative  power,  rests  supinely  upon 
a  bed  of  lotus  flowers,  and  the  third,  being  the  goddess 
of  destruction,  holds  in  one  hand  a  drawn  sword  and  in 
the  other  a  reptile.  Each  of  these  figures  is  about  twice 
the  size  of  the  human  form.  Surrounding  the  group  is  a 
miscellaneous  collection  of  minor  deities.  These  stand  in 
a  recess,  or  niche,  the  ceiling  of  which  is  ornamented  with 
a  group  of  what  might  be  called  angels,  but  as  the  Brah- 
min theology  does  not  recognize  this  winged  subdivision 
of  transformed  souls,  I  can  not  tell  what  they  are  intended 
to  represent.  On  each  of  the  sides  of  this  principal  room 
is  a  varied  collection  of  images  and  allegorical  representa- 
tions, the  purport  of  which  is  far  beyond  my  comprehen- 
sion. The  two  smaller  apartments  are  not  completed. 
The  entrance  is  so  arranged  that  at  certain  hours  of  the 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  297 

day  the  rays  of  the  sun  pour  in  and  flood  the  temple  with 
a  brilliant  light  that  exposes  every  niche  and  corner,  pro- 
ducing an  effect  at  once  grand  and  weird. 

This  temple,  were  it  erected  as  are  others  thoughout 
India,  would  perhaps  not  be  worthy  special  attention,  but 
when  it  is  remembered  "that  it  is  all,  including  the  images, 
cut  from  the  solid,  undisturbed  native  rock,  it  becomes 
one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world.  Tradition  rather  than 
history  assigns  the  excavation  to  the  seventh  century,  while 
other  not  less  trustworthy  traditions  speak  of  it  as  early 
as  the  fourth  century.  What  a  world  of  patient,  persist- 
ent labor  is  represented  in  the  work.  Every  part  had  to 
be  done  by  hand,  and  with  tools  the  most  crude.  It  is 
the  one  temple  that,  unless  disturbed  by  earthquakes,  will 
endure  forever.  It  is  free  from  the  destructive  effects  of 
the  elements,  though  in  some  parts  disfxgured  by  human 
hands.  History  relates  that  the  fanatical  Portuguese  en- 
deavored to  destroy  it,  and  for  the  purpose  fired  cannon 
loaded  with  solid  shot  into  it,  but  the  effect  was  but  to 
slightly  disfigure  it  in  some  parts. 

Our  hotel  accommodations  here  are  excellent.  We  are 
located  at  the  Hambleton.  It  is  situated  in  the  center  of 
a  four-acre  tract  or  park,  nicely  shaded,  and  embellished 
with  beds  of  flowers,  and  as  comfortable  a  place  for  whiling 
away  the  hours  as  one  would  care  to  find.  A  veranda 
surrounds  the  house  at  both  stories,  and  we  were  fortu- 
nate enough  to  secure  that  goal  of  all  hotel  guests,  a 
corner  room. 

The  English  residents  of  Bombay  are,  as  elsewhere  in 
the  East,  regular  patrons  of  the  bar.  They  call  their 
drinks  "  pegs,"  perhaps  in  imitation  of  the  American  say- 
ing so  often  heard  in  bar-rooms,  "  one  more  nail  in  my 
coffin,"  and  it  is  nothing  unusual  to  hear  an  Englishman 
boast  of  having  absorbed  ten  "pegs"  during  the  day.     I 


298  WHAT  I  SAW, 

should  think  that  each  one  would  represent  a  score  of  nails 
in  the  coffin  of  the  consumer,  for  certainly  a  more  vile 
decoction  was  never  compounded  by  human  hands.  It 
tastes  as  if  distilled  from  a  combination  of  pine  boughs 
and  old  boots. 

They  have  here  what  they  call  American  coal  oil. 
The  people  do  not  drink  it,  but  I  verily  believe  they 
would  if  it  were  labeled  brandy  or  whisky.  The  oil  might 
as  well  be  drank,  for  certainly  it  is  almost  useless  as  a 
burning  fluid.  It  is  apparently  oil  that  is  considered  unfit 
for  use  at  home. 

About  the  only  accommodations  we  have  found  in 
India  that  were  not  either  inferior  in  quality  or  exor- 
bitant in  price  are  the  hotels.  They  are  universally  good, 
and  their  charges  range  from  two  dollars  to  two  dollars 
and  twenty-five  cents  per  day.  The  eating  houses  are  ex- 
orbitant in  their  charges  and  correspondingly  deficient  in 
excellence.  The  railroads  are  universally  incomplete  in 
their  accommodations.  Even  the  first-class  carriages  are 
poor  aifairs.  Sleeping-cars  are  unknown,  and  the  miser- 
able box-like  concerns,  the  designs  of  which  are  borrowed 
from  England,  are  as  wretched  contrivances  as  can  be 
imagined,  being  devised  apparently  by  a  studied  eifort  to 
render  the  unhappy  passenger  uncomfortable.  The  charges 
are  three,  two,  and  one  cent  per  mile.  After  speaking  of 
the  deficient  accommodations  of  the  first-class  cars,  I  leave 
the  reader  to  imagine  the  discomfort  of  those  who  patron- 
ize the  third-class. 

Much  of  our  stay  in  Bombay  has  been  devoted  to  re- 
grets over  the  unfortunate  state  of  affairs  that  will  cause 
a  change  in  our  programme.  The  authorities  of  Egypt 
have  notified  the  officials  of  India  that,  owing  to  the  prev- 
alence of  the  cholera  in  this  country,  no  passengers  from 
India  will  be  permitted  to  land  in  Egypt.     This  decree  is 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  299 

inexorable,  and  as  a  consequence  the  most  interesting  part 
of  our  tour  will  have  to  be  omitted.  This  omission  will 
include  the  trip  u^)  the  Nile,  the  tour  through  the  Holy 
Land,  the  visit  to  Constantinople,  and  the  sight-seeing 
among  the  classical  scenes  and  ruins  of  ancient  Greece. 
This  is  a  serious,  almost  an  overwhelming  disappointment, 
but  it  must  be  endured  with  as  much  equanimity  as  possi- 
ble. The  Egyptians  will,  perhaps,  be  kind  enough  to  allow 
us  to  look  upon  their  country  as  we  pass  through  the  Suez 
canal,  which  is  very  considerate  of  them.  As  a  conse- 
quence, we  will  sail  directly  from  Bombay  to  some  un- 
certain point  in  Italy.  There  we  might  remain  until  we 
had  become  fumigated  and  deodorized  to  an  extent  com- 
mensurate with  the  aesthetic  tastes  of  the  hypercritical 
Egyptians,  but  it  would  then  be  too  late,  by  reason  of  the 
advanced  season,  to  go  up  the  Nile.  The  only  satisfaction 
we  can  find  will  be  in  making  a  hurried  tour  of  Europe 
and  return  home  about  the  20th  of  March,  with  the  full 
determination  to  return  next  Winter  and  leisurely  fill  in 
the  omitted  part  of  our  programme. 


300  WHAT  I  SAW, 


XXV. 

The  Hindoos  as  a  People — Their  Social  Customs — Religious  Be- 
liefs AND  Ceremonials — Self-inflicted  Tortures  and  Sacri- 
fices. 

Bombay,  India,  January  lo,  1882. 

Having  passed  hurriedly  through  India,  from  Calcutta 
to  Benares,  Delhi,  Jeypoor,  and  to  this  point,  a  necessarily 
incomplete  tour,  I  have  been  impressed  by  many  interesting 
views  of  the  social  and  religious  life  of  the  natives.  The 
inhabitants  of  India  are  apparently  of  various  and  greatly 
dissimilar  races,  diifering  materially  in  stature,  complexion, 
manners,  language,  religion,  and  general  character.  The 
mountaineers  of  the  North,  like  all  residents  of  a  hilly 
country,  are  large,  muscular,  and  hardy,  while  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  plains  are  of  inferior  stature  and  muscular 
development.  In  complexion,  they  vary  from  a  very  dark 
olive,  nearly  approaching  black,  to  a  light,  transparent 
brown,  such  as  mav  be  found  in  the  south  of  France  and 
in  Spain.  Among  the  children  and  adults  below  the  age 
of  twenty-five,  the  features  are  usually  regular,  and  some 
rare  types  of  physical  beauty  are  found.  The  girls  are 
fully  developed  women  at  the  age  of  eleven,  and  frequently 
become  mothers  before  they  are  twelve.  It  is  an  inexorable 
law  of  nature  that  the  fruit  which  ripens  earliest  soonest 
decays,  and  a  Hindoo  woman  of  thirty  retains  none  of  the 
physical  qualities  that  rendered  her  attractive  twenty  years 
previous.  Old  women  in  appearance  are  abundant  in 
India;  old  women  in  years  are  rare.     All  classes  of  na- 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  301 

tives,  as  I  have  before  narrated,  are  very  fond  of  orna- 
ments, yet  the  dress  is  exceedingly  simple.  The  children 
wear  no  clothing  whatever  until  they  are  from  five  to 
eight  years  of  age,  but  they  are  frequently  decorated  with 
ornaments  and  jewels  of  considerable  value. 

The  Hindoos  are  almost  universally  strict  vegetarians, 
and  I  do  not  remember  ever  to  have  seen  one  eat  a  mouth- 
ful of  flesh.  The  use  of  animal  food  is  denied  them  by 
their  religion,  unless,  as  it  is  said,  the  animal  has  first  been 
sacrificed  to  one  of  the*  idols.  It  may  be  that  such  is  the 
case,  and  the  assertion  is  made  by  writers  on  India,  much 
more  capable  than  myself,  but  the  consumption  of  animal 
food  by  the  Hindoos,  under  any  circumstances,  never  came 
within  the  scope  of  my  observation.  The  reader  Avill 
please  understand  that  in  this  connection  I  refer  only  to 
the  Brahmins,  who  compose  nine-tenths  of  the  people  of 
India.  The  wife  never  eats  with  her  husband,  but  waits 
upon  him  in  the  capacity  of  a  servant  and  satisfies  her 
craving  upon  such  remnants  as  his  appetite  did  not  demand. 
At  their  meals  they  use  neither  tables,  chairs,  knives, 
forks,  or  spoons.  They  sit  upon  the  floor,  and  carry  the 
food  to  the  mouth  with  the  fingers  of  the  right  hand,  it 
first  having  been  dipped  by  the  same  useful  members  from 
a  common  pot  or  other  receptacle.  They  take  their  drink 
from  a  cup,  usually  of  brass,  but  are,  for  some  reason, 
careful  that  the  cup  shall  not  touch  their  lips.  The  liquid 
is  poured  into  the  mouth. 

The  use  of  distilled  or  fermented  liquors  is  rare.  For- 
merly such  stimulants  were  indulged  in  only  by  the  lower 
castes,  but  I  regret  to  say  that  this  habit,  together  with 
other  pernicious  concomitants  of  civilization,  is  not  so  un- 
usual as  it  used  to  be.  I  never,  however,  during  the 
month  spent  in  India,  saw  a  native  under  the  influence  of 
liquor.     I  wish  I  could  truthfully  say  as   much  for  the 


302  WHAT  I  SAW, 

foreign  population.  The  use  of  tobacco  is  almost  uni- 
versal. Every  body  smokes,  and  consumes  the  vilest  va- 
rieties of  the  weed  that  can  be  obtained.  The  natives 
have  a  substitute  for  chewing-tobacco  that  is,  if  possible, 
more  filthy  than  the  weed  itself.  It  is  the  betel  nut,  and 
its  use,  which  is  confined  to  neither  sex,  produces  a  dis- 
coloration of  the  lips  and  teeth  that  is  jjositively  hideous 
and  disgusting. 

Most  of  the  native  dwellings  are  simple  rude  huts, 
about  eighteen  feet  in  length  and  d  little  more  than  half 
as  wide.  The  walls  are  built  of  mud,  and  the  roof  is 
usually  thatched  with  straw  or  palm  leaves.  In  the  cities 
and  larger  villages,  however,  the  necessity  of  protection 
from  fire  compels  a  more  substantial  covering,  and  tile  is 
substituted.  The  cost  of  these  mud  huts  varies  from  five 
to  thirty  dollars,  according  to  the  pecuniary  condition  of 
the  builder.  This  looks  like  a  pitifully  meager  sum  to 
expend  upon  a  dwelling,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that, 
notwithstanding  the  vast  wealth  and  luxurious  ease  of  the 
nabobs,  India  is  distinctively  a  land  of  poverty,  and  the 
figures  I  have  given  often  represent  the  savings  of  the 
wretched  owner  for  years.  Not  more  than  one  dwelling  in 
a  thousand  is  constructed  of  more  substantial  material 
than  that  I  have  named.  Occasionally,  in  the  cities,  dwell- 
ings will  be  seen  constructed  of  brick,  and  these  are 
sometimes  (but  not  often)  as  much  as  three  stories  in 
height,  and  always  with  flat  roofs.  All  have  a  peculiarly 
prison-like  appearance,  for  the  reason  that  but  few  windows 
open  upon  the  street.  The  houses  are  built  around  an 
inner  court,  of  greater  or  less  dimensions,  and  this  court, 
among  the  wealthy  classes,  is  usually  embellished  with 
flowering  plants,  trees,  tasteful  walks,  and  fountains.  Most 
of  the  windows  open  upon  this.  In  nothing  is  the  Hin- 
doo  distaste  for  progress  more  fully  exemplified  than  in 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  303 

this  peculiar  construction  of  their  dwellings.  They  are 
of  the  design  of  a  thousand  years  ago,  when  every  man's 
house  was  literally  his  castle,  which  he  was  frequently 
called  upon  to  defend  against  his  enemies.  In  some  re- 
gards these  houses  are  frequently  what  they  appear — 
prisons;  for  within  their  walls  the  female  members  of  the 
family  are  as  zealously  confined  as  criminals.  Such  is  the 
jealousy  of  the  husbands  that  they  are  seldom  seen  upon 
the  streets,  and  never  in  public  assemblages.  This  seclusion 
of  the  women  is,  however,  peculiar  to  the  higher  class. 
Among  the  common  people,  women  are  literally  beasts  of 
burden,  and  work  in  the  fields,  carry  produce  to  market, 
and  perform  many  other  duties  which  scarcely  comport 
with  the  usually  accepted  theory  of  civilization,  that  they 
are  the  weaker  sex. 

In  some  of  the  best  houses  in  the  cities  is  a  small 
room  devoted  wholly  to  religious  purposes,  where  is 
erected  an  altar,  upon  which  rest  the  family's  collection 
of  idols,  formed  usually  of  silver  or  brass.  The  para- 
phernalia of  worship  is  somewhat  elaborate,  composed  of 
a  large  and  a  small  conch-shell,  the  former  for  sounding 
like  a  horn  and  the  latter  for  ladling  water  whenever  the 
worshiper  fancies  that  his  gods  are  in  need  of  ablution. 
In  addition  to  these  there  are  one  large  and  one  small 
boat-shaped  copper  vessel,  two  or  three  brass  plates,  a  bell, 
a  drum,  cymbals  and  a  five-branched  candlestick.  The 
uses  of  these  things  are  very  obscure,  but  one  would  sup- 
pose that  most  of  them  were  devoted  to  making  a  noise, 
that  blessed  refuge  of  all  idolaters,  who  hope  thus  to 
frighten  away  the  evil  spirits.  I  do  not  know  what  may 
be  the  disposition  of  the  spirits,  but  it  seems  to  me  that 
it  w^ould  require  the  pertinacity  of  a  demon  to  withstand 
the  horrid  din  of  a  combination  of  these  nerve-rasping 
instruments  of  auricular  torture.     Each   member  of  the 


304  WHAT  I  SAW, 

family  is  expected  to  repair  morning  and  evening  to  this 
sanctuary  to  oifer  up  his  petitions,  and  to  propitiate  in 
every  way  the  gods.  Attached  to  this  apartment  is  a 
batli-room,  where  those  who  are  unable  to  reach  the  holy 
waters  of  the  Ganges  can  perform  their  soul-saving  ablu- 
tions. The  water  used  is  usually  from  the  holy  river, 
and,  as  it  is  not  at  all  times  possible  to  secure  a  fresh  sup- 
ply, I  am  told  that  the  same  water  is  frequently  utilized 
continuously  by  the  different  members  of  the  family  for 
months. 

Should  a  foreigner  ask  a  native  Hindoo  why  certain 
duties  are  performed  in  so  primitive  a  manner,  the  reply 
would  ])e,  "  It  is  our  custom."  There  is  the  secret  of 
much  of  the  lack  of  progress  among  the  natives  of  India. 
For  ages  they  have  venerated  these  customs,  and  are  un- 
willing to  learn  the  more  improved  methods.  Since  my 
sojourn  in  the  country,  I  heard  an  amusing  anecdote  of 
this  indisposition  among  the  natives  to  recognize  the  util- 
ity of  improvements  and  avail  themselves  of  them.  A 
foreigner  had  taken  a  contract  to  build  a  part  of  a  line 
of  railroad,  and  in  the  grading  employed  a  multitude  of 
natives.  Here  the  laborers  engaged  in  such  work  carry 
the  dirt  in  baskets  balanced  on  their  heads.  The  con- 
tractor, desiring  to  lighten  the  labor  and  facilitate  the 
work,  conceived  the  idea  of  providing  wheelbarrows.  He 
procured  a  supply  and  the  natives  apparently  took  kindly 
to  the  innovation  and  admitted  that  it  was  an  improve- 
ment. Judge  of  the  astonishment  of  the  contractor  when 
he  returned  a  few  hours  later  and  found  his  laborers  filling 
the  barrows  with  earth  and  carrying  them  on  their  heads 
to  the  place  of  deposit. 

With  the  exception  of  those  sections  which  have  long 
enjoyed  the  security  of  British  protection,  the  rural  popu- 
lation of  India  largely  reside  in  villages,  which  are  simply 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  305 

a  collection  of  rude  huts,  thrown  together  in  the  most 
promiscuous  manner  possible,  without  regard  to  conven- 
ience, ventilation,  or  any  thing  else  that  in  civilized  coun- 
tries is  considered  essential.  The  whole  is  surrounded 
by  a  mud  wall,  that  might  possibly  be  an  insurmountable 
obstacle  to  a  sick  jackal.  The  government  is  j)atriarchal 
in  its  nature.  Each  village  has  its  head  man,  watchman, 
and  tax  gatherer,  and  there  the  poor  creatures  exist,  happy 
perhaps  in  the  knowledge  that  they  are  living  just  as  their 
fathers  did  three  thousand  years  ago.  Every  family  be- 
longing to  the  village  has  its  own  specific  occuj^ation  or 
particular  office,  entailed  for  generations.  The  land  culti- 
vated is  regarded  as  the  property  of  the  supreme  govern- 
ment, for  which  a  rent  is  j)sad  in  kind,  amounting  to 
nearly  half  of  the  crop.  The  lands  seldom  change  occu- 
pants, and  there  are  doubtless  living  in  India  to-day  fami- 
lies whose  progenitors  occupied  the  same  spot  of  ground 
a  thousand  years  ago.  Revolutions  disturb  them  not  in 
the  least.  The  only  change  in  their  routine  it  produces  is 
in  the  parties  to  whom  their  taxes  are  to  be  paid. 

The  writer  who  endeavors  to  speak  of  the  religions 
of  India  in  detail  assumes  a  task  whose  discouraging  di- 
mensions he  will  appreciate  as  he  progresses.  The  relig- 
ious systems  of  the  Brahmins  are  contained  In  a  great 
number  of  books  known  as  Shasters,  and  are  as  mythical, 
obscure,  and  absurd  as  the  most  fertile  imagination  could 
devise.  Many  of  these  books  have  been  handed  down 
from  generation  to  generation  for  thousands  of  years. 
They  are  written,  it  is  said,  In  Sanskrit,  some  with  Ink 
and  a  reed  pen  on  paper  of  native  manufacture,  and  others 
with  the  point  of  an  iron  stylus,  on  palm  leaf.  A  palm 
leaf  volume  of  ordinary  size  is  about  eighteen  inches  In 
length,  two  in  width,  and  four  in  thickness.     The  style  of 

binding  adopted  is  very  primitive.     Through  each  leaf  a 

20 


306  WHAT  I  SAW, 

hole  is  iilerced,  and  the  leaves  are  filed  upon  a  string 
much  as  the  sport-loving  urchin  collects  his  Sunday  after- 
noon catch  of  sunfish.  This  preserves  the  leaves  from 
loss,  and  the  -work  is  as  sacred  to  the  Hindoo  Brahmins 
as  is  the  gilt-edged,  gold-clasped  Bible  to  the  Christians. 
The  number  of  these  volumes  is  almost  unlimited.  One 
poem  contains  four  hundred  thousand  lines,  or  sufficient 
of  Itself  to  fill  ten  books  of  a  thousand  pages  each. 

The  subjects  treated  of  in  these  books  are  numerous, 
and  form  not  only  the  religious  precej)ts,  ceremonials, 
etc.,  of  the  Brahmins,  but  the  rules  governing  the  family 
relations,  amusements,  health,  the  healing  art,  music,  as- 
tronomy, geography,  etc.  The  earth,  according  to  the 
teachings  of  the  Shasters,  which  every  true  Brahmin  be- 
lieves to  be  of  divine  origin,  is  a  circular  plain,  with  a 
circumference  of  some  four  hundred  millions  of  miles.  It 
is  borne  on  the  backs  of  eight  huge  elephants,  the  ele- 
phants stand  uj)on  the  back  of  an  immense  tortoise,  and 
the  tortoise  rests  upon  a  prodigious  thousand-headed 
serpent.  What  su^iports  the  snake  is  not  stated.  When- 
ever this  reptile  becomes  drowsy  and  nods,  the  equilibrium 
of  mundane  matters  is  disturbed,  and  we  have  earthquakes. 
On  such  occasions,  the  people  rush  out  of  their  houses, 
beating  drums,  shouting,  and  by  other  equally  hideous 
sounds  seeking  to  arouse  his  drowsy  snakeshlp.  The 
Brahmin  geography,  as  taught  by  the  Shasters,  is  no  less 
unique.  They  claim  that  the  earth  consists  of  seven  con- 
centric oceans  and  an  equal  number  of  continents;  that 
they  are  arranged  alternately  around  a  common  center. 
The  first  ocean,  the  one  nearest  the  center,  is  composed  of 
salt  Avater;  the  second,  of  milk;  the  third,  of  the  curds  of 
milk ;  the  fourth,  of  melted  butter;  the  fifth,  of  juice  of  the 
sugar  cane ;  the  sixth,  of  wine ;  and  the  seventh,  of  fresh 
water.     Beyond  the  seventh  ocean.  Is  a  land  of  pure  goldj 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  307 

but  inaccessible  to  man ;  and  far  beyond  that  extends  the 
land  of  darkness,  containing  places  of  torment  for  the 
wicked.  The  continent  at  the  center  of  the  earth  is  a 
circular  plain  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  miles  in 
diameter.  From  its  center  arises  a  mountain  composed 
entirely  of  gold  and  precious  stones,  to  the  height  of  six 
hundred  thousand  miles.  Unlike  other  mountains,  it  is  the 
largest  at  the  top,  and  is  crowned  by  three  summits,  where 
are  seated  the  three  gods,  Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Siva. 
Near  these  summits  are  located  the  inferior  gods,  one  of 
whom  is  described  as  eight  hundred  miles  in  circumference 
and  forty  miles  in  height — a  right  smart  chance  of  a  god 
to  be  catalogued  with  the  inferior  deities.  At  the  foot  of 
this  principal  mountain  are  three  smaller  elevations,  and 
on  the  top  of  each  grows  a  mango  tree,  eight  thousand 
eight  hundred  miles  high.  Such  an  arboreal  giant  as  that 
must  overshadow  the  big  trees  of  California,  with  several 
feet  to  spare.  These  trees  bear  fruit  several  hundred  feet 
in  diameter,  and  as  delicious  as  nectar.  "SVhen  it  falls  to 
the  ground,  juice  exudes  from  it,  whose  spicy  fragrance 
perfumes  the  air,  and  those  Avho  eat  thereof  diffuse  a  most 
agreeable  odor  many  miles  around.  The  rose-apple  tree 
also  grows  on  these  mountains,  the  fruit  of  w^hlch  is  as 
large  as  an  elephant,  and  so  full  of  juice  that  at  maturity 
it  flows  along  in  a  stream,  and  whatever  object  it  touches 
in  Its  course  is  turned  into  pure  gold.* 

This  Is  but  a  specimen  of  the  absurdities  and  extrava- 
gance that  pervade  every  part  of  the  Hindoo  faith.  There 
are  comparatively  Intelligent  Hindoos  who  recognize  the 
ridiculous  features  of  such  teachings,  but  there  are  mill- 
Ions  of  natives  Avho  have  Implicit  faith  in  every  line  of 
the  Shasters. 

Elsewhere  I  have  spoken  of  the  four  castes  into  which 

*  Brainerd's  "  Life  in  India." 


308  WHAT  I  SAW, 

the  Brahmins  are  divided.  These,  from  various  causes, 
have  been  subdivided  into  more  than  two  hundred  dis- 
tinct classes.  If  one  of  the  high  caste  violates  the  rules 
of  his  class,  he  can  not  receive  an  honorable  dismissal  and 
retire  to  one  of  the  lower  degrees.  He  becomes  an  out- 
cast, and  is  not  recognized  even  by  the  inferior  castes. 
These  laws  are  immutable,  and  a  person  born  in  one  of 
the  lower  castes  can  never  aspire  to  rise.  It  is  not  looked 
upon  as  an  offense  for  which  the  individual  is  responsible, 
but  as  a  misfortune  dcreed  by  the  gods.  The  difference 
between  the  higher  and  the  lower  castes  is  immeasurably 
great,  but  the  lowest  caste  is  far  superior  to  the  Pariahs, 
a  race  who  are  not  regarded  as  having  any  caste  whatever, 
and  are,  I  believe,  those  who  have  forfeited  their  caste  in 
the  higher  divisions.  When  walking  the  streets  they 
must  keep  on  the  side  opposite  the  sun,  lest  their  filthy 
shadows  fhll  on  the  consecrated  Brahmin.  These  divisions 
would  fill  the  soul  of  an  American  aristocrat  with  glad- 
ness, only  that  in  India  caste  is  not,  as  with  Americans, 
dependent  upon  wealth.  The  high  caste  Brahmin  will 
not  touch  nor  allow  himself  to  be  touched  by  a  country- 
man of  lower  caste,  and  will  die  before  accepting  necessary 
attentions  from  him.  The  reader  may  ask  how  they  are 
able  to  distinguish  the  castes  at  a  glance.  All  trouble  in 
that  regard  is  obviated  by  a  red  mark  on  the  forehead, 
which  is  of  different  form  for  each  caste,  and  is  renewed 
every  morning. 

Some  one  has  said  that  religion  is  the  basis  of  all 
morals,  and  that  neither  nations  nor  individuals  can  aim 
at  a  greater  purity  than  their  religion  requires.  The 
Hindoo  gods  and  goddesses  are  extremely  vicious,  and  it 
could  not  be  expected  that  their  worshipers  should  rise 
above  them.  The  grossness  and  pollution  of  these  gods 
and  the  images  chosen  by  the  worshipers  to  represent  them 


AND  HOW  1  SAW  IT.  309 

are  almost  beyond  the  conception  of  civilized  people.  The 
attributes  of  the  gods  and  goddesses  are  wholly  horrible, 
and  they  are  supposed  to  be  in  a  constant  state  of  dis- 
pleasure, demanding  appeasement.  The  images  formed  to 
represent  these  deities,  and  in  which  the  god  worshiped  is 
supposed  to  abide  after  consecration,  are  often  imitations 
of  the  most  disgustingly  obscene  objects,  and  the  Brahmins 
venerate  them  religiously.  One  of  these  gods  is  called 
Siva,  and  he  is  usually  represented  with  eight  arms  and 
three  eyes,  one  in  the  center  of  the  forehead,  and  the 
body  decorated  by  a  serpent  which  is  raising  its  head 
over  his  right  shoulder.  With  one  foot  he  is  crushing  an 
enemy ;  with  one  of  his  hands  he  is  tossing  a  human  vic- 
tim on  the  points  of  a  trident;  in  a  third  he  holds  a 
drum,  in  a  fourth  an  ax,  in  a  fifth  a  sword,  and  in  a  sixth 
a  club,  on  which  is  a  human  head.  What  a  cheerful, 
genial  object  that  must  be  to  worship !  He  is  pleasant 
and  innocent  in  appearance,  however,  compared  with 
his  wife.  Kali,  elsewhere  described.  She  is  represented 
as  a  woman  of  dark  blue  color,  with  four  arms,  in 
the  act  of  trampling  under  her  foot  her  prostrate  and 
supplicating  husband.  In  one  hand  she  holds  the  bloody 
head  of  a  giant,  and  in  another  an  exterminating  sw^ord. 
Her  long,  disheveled  hair  reaches  to  her  feet;  her  tongue 
protrudes  from  her  distorted  mouth,  and  her  lips,  eye- 
brows, and  breast  are  stained  with  the  blood  of  the  vic- 
tims of  her  fury,  whom  she  is  supposed  to  devour  by 
thousands.  Her  ear  ornaments  are  human  carcasses.  The 
girdle  about  her  waist  consists  of  the  bloody  hands  of 
giants  slain  by  her,  and  her  necklace  is  composed  of  their 
skulls.  This  monster  is  one  of  the  most  popular  objects  of 
Hindoo  worship.  She  calls  forth  the  shouts,  acclamations, 
and  free-will  offerings  of  thousands  of  infatuated  w^or- 
shipers,  and  her  temples  are  constantly  drenched  with  the 


310  WHAT  I  SAW, 

blood  of  victims;   even   human   victims  are   occasionally 
sacrificed  to  her.* 

The  following  description  of  a  festival  in  honor  of  the 
two  deities  I  have  described,  is  from  the  pen  of  Rev.  Dr. 

Duff: 

''An  upright  pole,  twenty  or  thirty  feet  in  height,  is 
planted  in  the  ground.  Across  the  top  of  it,  moving 
freely  on  a  pivot,  is  placed  horizontally  another  long  pole. 
From  one  end  of  this  transverse  beam  is  a  rope  suspended, 
with  two  hooks  affixed  to  it.  To  the  other  extremity  is 
fastened  another  rope,  which  hangs  loosely  toward  the 
ground.  The  devotee  comes  forward  and  prostrates  him- 
self in  the  dust.  The  hooks  are  then  run  through  the 
fleshy  parts  of  his  back  near  the  shoulders.  A  party 
holding  the  rope  at  the  other  end  immediately  begins  to 
run  around  with  considerable  velocity.  By  this  means 
the  wretched  dupe  of  superstition  is  hoisted  aloft  into  the 
air  and  violently  whirled  round  and  round.  This  being 
regarded  one  of  the  holiest  of  acts,  the  longer  he  can  en- 
dure the  torture  the  greater  the  pleasure  conveyed  to  the 
deity  whom  he  serves,  and  consequently  the  brighter  the 
prospect  of  future  reward.  The  time  usually  occupied  aver- 
ages from  ten  minutes  to  half  an  hour ;  and  as  soon  as  one 
has  ended  another  candidate  is  ready,  aspiring  to  earn  the 
like  merit  and  distinction.  On  one  tree  from  five  to  ten 
or  fifteen  may  be  swung  in  the  course  of  a  day.  Of  these 
swinging  posts  there  are  hundreds  and  thousands  simul- 
taneously in  operation  in  the  province  of  Bengal.  They 
are  always  erected  in  the  most  conspicuous  parts  of  the 
towns  and  villages,  and  are  surrounded  by  vast  crowds  of 
noisy  spectators.  On  the  very  streets  of  the  native  city 
of  Calcutta  many  of  these  horrid  swings  are  annually  to 
be  seen,  and   scores  around  the  suburbs.     It  not  unfre- 

*Brainerd's  "  Life  in  India." 


AXD  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  311 

quently  happeus  that  from  the  extreme  rapidity  of  the 
motion,  the  ligaments  of  the  back  give  way,  and  the  de- 
votee is  thrown  to  a  distance  and  dashed  to  pieces.  In- 
stead of  sympathy  or  compassion,  a  feeling  of  detestation 
and  abhorrence  is  excited  towards  him.  By  the  principles 
of  their  faith,  he  is  adjudged  to  have  been  a  desperate 
criminal  in  a  former  state  of  being;  and  he  has  now  met 
with  this  violent  death  in  the  present  birth  as  a  righteous 
retribution,  on  account  of  egregious  sins  committed  in  a 
former. 

"The  evening  of  the  same  day  is  devoted  to  another 
practice  almost  equally  cruel.  It  consists  in  the  devotees 
throwing  themselves  down  from  a  high  wall,  the  second 
story  of  a  house,  or  a  temporary  scaffolding,  often  twenty 
or  thirty  feet  in  height,  upon  iron  spikes  or  knives  that 
are  thickly  stuck  in  a  large  bag  or  m.attress  of  straw. 
But  these  sharp  instruments  being  fixed  rather  loosely 
and  in  a  position  sloping  forward,  the  greater  part  of  the 
thousands  that  fall  upon  them  dextrously  contrive  to  es- 
cape without  serious  damage.  At  night  numbers  of  the 
devotees  sit  down  in  the  open  air  and  pierce  the  skin  of 
their  foreheads;  and  in  it,  as  a  socket,  place  a  small  rod 
of  iron  to  which  is  suspended  a  lamp  that  is  kept  burn- 
ing until  the  dawn  of  day,  while  the  lamp-bearers  rehearse 
the  praises  of  their  favorite  deity.  Before  the  temple 
bundles  of  thorns  and  other  firewood  are  accumulated, 
among  which  the  devotees  roll  themselves  uncovered. 
The  materials  are  next  raised  into  a  pile  and  set  on  fire. 
Then  the  devotees  briskly  dance  over  the  blazing  embers, 
and  with  their  naked  hands  hurl  them  into  the  air  and  at 
each  other.  Some  have  their  breasts,  arms,  and  other 
parts  stuck  entirely  full  of  pins  about  the  thickness  of 
small  nails  or  packing  needles.  Others  betake  themselves 
to  a  vertical  wheel,  twenty  or  thirty  feet  in  diameter,  and 


312  WHAT  1  SAW, 

raised  occasionally  above  the  ground.  They  bind  them- 
selves to  the  outer  rim  in  a  sitting  posture,  so  that  when 
the  wheel  rolls  round  their  heads  ])oiut  alternately  to  the 
zenith  and  the  nadir.  But  it  were  endless  to  pursue  the 
diversity  of  these  self-inflicted  cruelties  into  all  their  de- 
tails. There  is  one,  however,  of  so  very  singular  a  char- 
acter that  it  nmst  not  be  left  unnoticed.  Some  of  these 
deluded  votaries  enter  into  a  vow.  With  one  hand  they 
cover  their  under  lips  with  a  layer  of  wet  earth  or  mud ; 
on  this  with  the  other  hand  they  deposit  some  small 
grains,  usually  of  mustard  seed.  They  then  stretch  them- 
selves flat  on  their  backs,  exposed  to  the  dripping  dews 
of  night  and  the  blazing  sun  by  day.  And  their  vow  is  that 
from  that  fixed  position  they  will  not  stir — will  neither 
move  nor  eat  nor  drink,  nor  turn  till  the  seeds  planted  on 
the  lips  begin  to  germinate.  This  vegetable  process  usu- 
ally takes  place  on  the  third  or  fourth  day,  after  which, 
being  released  from  their  vow,  they  arise,  as  they  dotingly 
imagine  and  believe,  laden  with  a  vast  accession  of  holi- 
ness and  supererogatory  merit." 

Thanks  to  the  civilizing  influence  of  the  English,  who 
have  positively  forbidden  such  inhumanities,  festivals  like 
that  described  by  Dr.  Duff  are  no  longer  observed  in  that 
part  of  India  under  her  majesty's  control.  I  have  been  as- 
sured, however,  that  in  some  parts,  removed  from  British 
surveillance,  all  these  horrid  barbarities  are  still  practiced. 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  313 


XXVI. 

Fabewell  to  India — Sail  for  Egypt — On  the  Arabian  Sea— Re- 
ligious Services  at  Sea — Arrival  at  Aden — Through  the  Red 
Sea — The  Suez  Canal — The  Land  op  Promise  Forbidden  to 
THE  Tourists— Arrival  at  Brindisi. 


Steamer  "  Bokara," 
Between  Bombay  and  Europe 


} 


We  left  Bombay  at  6  P.  M.  on  the  12th,  and  bid  adieu 
to  India,  its  pleasures  and  pains,  its  wonderful  sights  and 
torrid  heat.  In  this  connection,  and  while  enjoying  our 
last  voyage  previous  to  crossing  the  Atlantic  from  Liver- 
pool to  New  York,  I  desire  to  add  our  mite  to  the  uni- 
versal commendation  of  the  Peninsular  and  Oriental  Steam- 
ship Company,  whose  vessels  have  carried  us  all  the  way 
from  China.  They  are  staunch,  conveniently  arranged 
steamers,  manned  by  officers  who  are  complete  gentlemen, 
taking  genuine  pleasure  in  adding  to  the  comfort  of  their 
passengers.  Their  vessels  have  been  our  home  at  different 
times  for  many  weeks,  and  there  has  never  been  the  slight- 
est deviation  from  the  accommodating  spirit  that  prevails. 

I  am  writing  this  paragrni)h  on  the  Arabian  Sea,  five 
hundred  miles  west  of  Bombay,  and  we  are  rapidly  nearing 
the  end  of  our  third  quarter  in  the  trip  around  the  world. 
We  passed  the  antipode  of  home  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal 
soon  after  leaving  Penang,  and  are  now  more  than  three 
thousand  miles  west  of  that  point,  which  places  us  nearly 
opposite  San  Francisco.  We  are  indeed  a  "  long  way 
from  home,"  but  are  beginning  to  feel  that  we  are  home- 


314  WHAT  I  SAW, 

ward  bound.  The  sea  is  a  little  rough,  and  my  worthy 
companion,  for  the  first  time,  is  suffering  some  from  sea- 
sickness. As  for  myself,  I  am  endeavoring  to  sustain  the 
acquired  reputation  of  being  a  "  staunch  sailor,"  but  how 
lono;  it  mav  last  I  do  not  know.  Mrs.  Converse  is  not 
happy.  I  have  no  idea  that  seasickness  is  usually  con- 
ducive to  happiness,  but  I  fancy  that  her  mental  equilib- 
rium would  be  more  fully  sustained  if  I  too  was  a  victim 
of  the  dreaded  mal  de  mer.  Misery  loves  company,  you 
know,  and  in  addition  to  that,  I  fancy  she  is  consumed  by 
a  curiosity  to  know  how  I  would  conduct  myself  under  a 
well-defined  attack  of  seasickness. 

To-day  (the  14th)  we  had  an  alarm  of  fire,  but  for- 
tunately it  was  only  an  alarm,  given  for  the  purpose  of 
drilling  the  crew  in  case  of  a  genuine  outbreak.  In  an 
instant  every  man  was  at  his  post ;  the  decks  were  almost 
instantaneously  flooded  with  water;  the  life-boats  were 
lowered,  provisioned,  and  provided  with  water — every 
thing  so  quickly  as  to  give  the  passengers  great  confidence 
in  their  preservation  should  a  fire  break  out.  The  very 
thoughts,  however,  of  being  cast  out  upon  the  Arabian 
Sea,  in  an  open  boat,  with  the  nearest  land  several  hun- 
dred miles  away  and  peopled  with  savage  Arabs,  make 
one  shudder  for  the  possibilities. 

Sunday,  January  Ibth. — To-day  we  had  divine  service 
on  board,  in  accordance  with  the  ritual  of  the  Church  of 
England.  Such  machine  religion  does  not  fill  our  ideas  of 
fitness.  We  can  not  bring  ourselves  to  think  that  the 
prayer  which  is  read  from  a  book,  in  accord  with  a  formula 
prepared,  is  the  prayer  that  comes  from  the  heart.  In  our 
wanderings  we  have  witnessed  nearly  every  kind  of  worship, 
from  the  Japanese  praying  gong  through  the  entire  cate- 
gory of  Buddhist,  Brahmin,  Mohammedan,  and  the  me- 
chanical supplications  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  our 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  315 

hearts  yearn  for  the  unctuous  pleadings  which  rise  from 
the  heart  and  are  wafted  to  heaven  by  a  feeling  of  earnest- 
ness, humility,  and  faith.  It  is,  however,  a  fact  that  we 
are  all  prone  to  impatience,  amounting  in  some  cases  to 
intolerance,  of  religious  theories  and  practices  that  do  not 
accord  with  our  own.  I  may  be  affected  with  the  pre- 
vailing disease,  but  whether  the  suppliant  be  a  Japanese 
Buddhist,  a  Hindoo  Brahmin,  or  an  English  Christian,  I 
like  to  see  him  pray  as  if  he  meant  it. 

Aden,  Arabia,  Januar^y  I8th. — We  arrived  here  this 
morning,  having  experienced  a  pleasant  voyage  of  not 
quite  six  days.  We  were  allowed  six  hours  to  "do"  the 
town,  and  we  hurried  ashore  and  procured  a  carriage 
drawn  by  a  pair  of  thoroughbred  Arabian  horses,  and 
started  out  to  see  what  was  to  be  seen.  The  town  is  on 
the  south-west  coast  of  Arabia,  and  is  built  upon  the  lava 
bed  of  an  extinct  volcano.  The  town  does  not  really 
amount  to  much,  beyond  its  fortifications,  which  are  ex- 
tensive and  garrisoned  by  three  thousand  English  troops. 
It  commands,  to  some  degree,  the  entrance  to  the  Red 
Sea,  and  is  an  important  point  only  to  that  extent.  The 
native  population  fluctuates  greatly,  and  never  at  any  time 
exceeds  twenty  or  twenty-five  thousand.  Considerable 
trade  is  done  in  ostrich  eggs  and  feathers.  This  is  also 
the  shipping  point  for  the  celebrated  Mocha  coffee,  which, 
as  my  readers  are  doubtless  aware,  is  an  Arabian  product. 
From  this  point  caravans  penetrate  into  all  parts  of  Arabia. 

The  inhabitants  are  a  peculiar  appearing  people,  being 
composed  of  Arabs,  Jews,  and  Abyssinians.  The  latter 
are  negroes,  whose  heads  are  covered  by  a  thick  mat  of 
curly  red  hair. 

We  drove  through  the  streets,  and  visited  the  bazaars 
and  made  a  few  purchases.  The  houses  are  of -stone,  plas- 
tered on  the  outside,  and  with  flat  roofs.     My  own  opinion 


316  WHAT  I  SAW, 

of  the  town  is  that  it  is  pretty  near  "the  jumping  off 
place,"  meaning  thereby  that  it  is  the  most  God-forsaken 
spot  on  earth.  It  is  terribly  hot  even  at  this  season,  and 
must  be  insufferably  torrid  in  midsummer.  It  is  Avholly 
barren,  not  a  tree  or  shrub  growing  that  is  not  the  poor 
result  of  assiduous  cultivation.  The  glare  of  the  sun 
from  the  lava  beds  makes  mere  existence  a  burden.  We 
bought  some  photographs,  and  })aid  our  respects  to  the 
American  consul,  Mr.  Wilson,  from  whom  we  obtained  a 
roll  of  Boston  papers,  of  a  date  as  late  as  December  6th. 
The  consul  has  my  sympathies,  as  I  would  not  live  at  Aden 
a  year  for  the  salary  of  the  President. 

We  drove  out  to  the  water  tanks,  situated  on  the  hills, 
about  seventeen  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 
They  are  of  immense  capacity,  five  or  six  in  number,  and 
situated  one  below  the  other,  so  that  the  water  which  first 
fills  the  upper  one  transfers  itself  to  those  below,  thus 
keeping  the  lower  one  always  full.  They  are  to  some 
extent  natural,  but  by  the  work  of  man  have  been  made 
of  permanent  utility.  Each  will  hold  a  small  lake  of 
water,  being  more  than  an  acre  in  extent.  It  is  supposed 
that  these  tanks  were  built  by  the  Pharoahs.  The  stone 
work  shows  evidence  of  mechanical  knowledge  on  the  part 
of  the  builders. 

The  fact  that  cholera  prevails  to  an  unpleasant'  degree 
in  the  town  was  sufficient  excuse  for  our  not  lingering 
longer,  even  had  our  allotted  six  hours  not  expired. 

At  3  p.  m.  we  are  off  again,  passing  through  the 
"Gate  of  Tears"  into  the  Red  Sea,  bound  for  Suez,  the 
canal,  and  beyond,  our  destination  depending  entirely 
upon  the  Egyptian  authorities.  We  pass  up  north  by 
the  point  that  tradition  tells  us  was  the  place  where  Cain 
was  exiled."  If  such  was  the  case  he  was  certainly  suffi- 
ciently punished  for  his  crimes. 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  317 

On  the  19th  we  experienced  a  rough  sea.  We  passed 
four  steamers  bound  down,  over  whose  decks  the  water 
was  breaking  in  vast  waves.  The  novelty  of  the  sight 
was  somewhat  reduced,  however,  by  the  fact  that  our  own 
vessel  was  suffering  the  same  way. 

We  have  just  passed  the  "Twelve  Ajjostles,"  a  name 
given  to  a  group  of  islands  on  the  Arabian  coast.  We 
here  have  the  continent  of  Asia  on  our  right  and  that  of 
Africa  to  the  left.  The  latter,  however,  is  not  yet  in 
sight,  and  won't  be  until  we  reach  the  Gulf  of  Suez. 

I  see  by  the  papers  of  December  6th  that  the  govern- 
ment has  fooled  along  with  the  wretch  Guiteau,  and  it 
makes  me  almost  ashamed  of  my  nationality.  It  is  a 
burnino;  disgrace  to  America.  One  American  whom  I 
met  in  Calcutta  said  that  if  Guiteau  was  not  hung  he 
would  be  tempted  to  transfer  his  allegiance  to  some  other 
country,  and  try  to  forget  that  he  was  an  American. 

At  this  writing  we  do  not  know  certainly  whether  we 
will  be  allowed  to  land  in  Egypt,  or  whether  we  will  be 
compelled  to  go  on  to  Italy, 

I  have  been  amusing  myself  to-day  reading  President 
Arthur's  message,  with  which  I  am  much  jDleased.  I  ex- 
pect it  is  not  often  that  the  state  papers  of  an  American 
President  are  perused  in  the  midst  of  the  Red  Sea. 

Sunday,  January  22cZ. — AVe  had  more  religious  service 
of  the  machine  variety  to-day.  We  are  now  nearly  opjDO- 
site  Mount  Sinai,  and  if  the  day  continues  clear,  we  will 
probably  see  it  from  the  ship  this  evening.  We  are  to 
reach  Suez  to-morrow. 

Suez,  Egyjit,  January  23d. — We  are  here  safe,  and 
taking  our  first  view  of  that  promised  but  now  forbidden 
land,  Egypt.  We  can  not  land,  but  we  can  find  a  grain 
of  satisfaction  by  looking  into  the  country.  We  passed 
Mount  Sinai   last   night,  and  as  the  historical  lightning 


318  WHAT  I  SAW. 


Avhicli  once  played  around  its  summit  ceased  some  several 
thousand  years  ago,  we  failed  to  see  it. 

AVe  arc  now  anchored  two  miles  from  shore  at  about 
the  point  where  Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel  crossed 
over  "  on  dry  land."  The  hills  on  the  west  side  come 
down  to  the  water,  hut  on  the  east  there  is  quite  a  level 
plain  for  a  mile  or  two  back,  and  then  the  mountains 
rise  up  high.  There  is  in  one  place  a  gorge  or  can- 
yon through  which  it  is  supposed  Moses  led  his  hosts 
in  their  precipitate  flight  from  the  Egyptians.  To  the 
north  is  a  sandy  desert  and  the  Suez  Canal. 

We  are  putting  off  the  mail,  all  to  be  put  up  in  tarred 
bags  for  fear  it  has  been  contaminated.  AYe  are  ten  days 
out  from  Bombay,  and,  as  there  is  not  a  case  of  sickness 
of  any  kind  on  board,  all  this  seems  childish.  No  one  of 
the  Egyptians  who  receive  the  mail  is  allowed  to  touch  or 
go  near  one  of  our  sailors.  One  degenerate  descendant  of 
the  Pharaohs  is  standing  on  the  lighter  offering  English 
papers  for  sale.  In  paying  for  them  we  had  to  droj)  our 
money  in  a  cup  of  water,  and  he  then,  supposing  it  free  from 
any  infection,  fishes  it  out.  This  is  the  first  time  we  have 
ever  experienced  the  isolation  and  other  inconvenience  of 
quarantine,  but  it  is  not  likely  to  be  the  last.  AVe  are  to 
be  here  twenty-four  hours  before  passing  through  the 
canal  and  thence  around  to  Alexandria,  where  we  will 
again  attemj^t  to  secure  a  landing. 

We  keenly  feel  the  injustice  of  our  being  restrained 
from  the  Nile  trip,  which  has  been  to  us  a  dream  of  the 
possible  future  since  childhood.  We  can  only  stand  on 
deck  and  look  wistfully  into  the  land  where  we  promised 
ourselves  such  enjoyable  experiences.  We  can  see  but 
little  of  the  town  of  Suez,  as  we  are  anchored  fully  two 
miles  from  shore. 

This,  our   second   day  in   the   harbor  of  Suez,  seems 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  319 

to  us  bitter  cold,  but  the  mercury  only  indicates  forty- 
eight  degrees.  We  have  been  traveling  so  long  in  trop- 
ical countries  that  we  no  doubt  feel  the  change  more  than 
others. 

We  are  getting  ready  to  pass  into  the  canal,  but  it 
requires  an  amount  of  tedious  routine  to  get  the  vessel  out 
of  the  toils  of  the  quarantine  officials.  There  is  no  con- 
demned foolishness  about  an  Egyptian  quarantine  either. 
An  officer  is  put  on  board,  whose  duty  it  is  to  see  that 
no  one  leaves  the  vessel.  This  fellow  will  remain  with  us 
during  the  trip  through  the  canal,  and  will  see  that  none 
of  us  slip  ashore. 

The  canal  is  about  eighty-five  miles  long,  and  the  en- 
trance to  it  about  a  mile  from  the  port  of  Suez.  It  is 
only  wide  enough  for  one  vessel,  but  is  arranged  with 
frequent  widenings,  corresponding  to  the  side  tracks  of 
railroads,  where  vessels  pass.  As  we  are  passing  through 
the  canal  we  have  a  continent  on  either  hand,  Asia  on 
the  right  and  Africa  on  the  left.  Each  is  a  desert,  as 
dreary  and  desolate  an  outlook  as  can  be  found  on  the 
face  of  the  earth.  Our  ship  pays  a  toll  of  four  thousand 
dollars  and  two  dollars  in  addition  for  each  passenger. 
We  have  a  pilot  to  take  us  through.  As  I  write  we  are 
passing  through  Bitter  Lake,  and  on  the  east  of  us  is 
a  raging  sand  storm  on  the  desert. 

.  Ismalia,  Egypt. — We  stopped  here  over  night,  and 
were  again  quarantined  twelve  hours.  From  here  is  a 
railroad  to  Cairo  and  Alexandria.  Ismalia  is  only  a  small 
point  of  land,  an  oasis  in  the  desert,  w^th  a  few  trees  and 
an  occasional  tuft  of  grass.  The  former  khedive  built 
here  a  palace  for  De  Lesseps,  the  builder  of  the  canal, 
but  the  Frenchman  would  probably  not  have  occupied  it 
if  he  had  been  given  the  entire  income  of  the  ditch,  and 
it  stands  vacant.     W^e  are  anchored  out  in  the  lake  about 


320  WHAT  I  SAW, 

a  milo  from  the  shore.  Finally  we  are  freed  from  the 
clutch  of  quarantine  and  pass  again  into  the  canal.  In  a 
short  time  we  will  reach  Port  Said,  but  of  course  will  not 
be  allowed  to  land  there.  The  report  now  is  that  even 
Italy  will  turn  her  back  on  us,  and  we  will  be  compelled 
to  pass  on  up  the  Adriatic  to  Trieste,  Austria.  We  must 
get  in  somewhere,  even  if  it  should  be  Liverpool  or  New 
York. 

After  leaving  Ismalia  we  are  regaled  with  the  usual 
view  of  desert.  We  saw  to-day  from  the  ship  hundreds 
of  dromedaries  and  Egyptians  in  camp  by  the  side  of  the 
canal,  on  the  way  to  the  Holy  Land,  only  something 
more  than  a  hundred  miles  distant,  but  so  far  as  being  of 
any  benefit  to  us,  it  might  as  well  be  in  the  other  hem- 
isphere. 

We  saw  during  the  day  one  of  those  desert  pictures,  a 
mirage.  It  presented  a  view  of  M^ater  and  small  islands, 
and  it  was  difficult  to  realize  that  the  j)erfect  picture  was 
a  delusion. 

In  going  through  the  canal  we  move  very  sIoAvly, 
going  at  a  rate  not  to  exceed  four  miles  per  hour.  We 
have  to  "side-track"  once  in  a  while  to  allow  other  ves- 
sels to  pass.  At  one  station  to-day  we  saw  a  drove  of 
"fat-tailed"  sheep,  and  the  water  is  covered  with  myriads 
of  ducks.  These  fowls,  however,  are  not  palatable,  as, 
their  food  being  wholly  fish,  they  are  exceedingly  strong. 

Port  Said,  January  2Qth, — We  have  reached  this  point 
only  to  again  encounter  that  odious  quarantine.  We  will 
be  detained  here  twenty-four  hours,  and  in  the  meantime 
we  take  on  three  hundred  tons  of  coal,  handled  by  fellahs. 
These  creatures  are  a  human  curiosity.  They  are  cer- 
tainly the  most  dirty,  lousy,  inodorous  sons  of  Adam  that 
the  eyes  of  mortal  man  ever  beheld,  excepting  always  the 
Chinese.    It  seems  to  me  that  they  must  have  been  created 


AND  HO W  I  SAW  IT.  321 

of  the  remnants  after  all  the  passable  material  had  been 
consumed,  and  a  very  inferior  quality  of  remnants  at  that. 
And  to  think  that  we,  who  hold  cleanliness  second  only 
to  godliness,  should  be  excluded  from  a  country  where 
these  creatures,  with  all  their  filth  and  beastliness,  are 
privileged  to  live  and  come  and  go  as  they  please.  It  is 
too  much!  too  much!  But  they  are  magnificent  coal- 
heavers.  They  are  so  dirty  that  the  blackest  coal  posi- 
tively makes  a  white  mark  on  them. 

Port  Said,  so  well  as  we  can  see  it  from  the  deck  of 
the  ship,  is  a  neat  and  tidy  little  place,  containing  perhaps 
eighty  to  one  hundred  houses,  built  of  stone  and  plastered. 
Many  are  two  or  three  stories  high.  A  telescope  tells  me 
that  some  bear  signs  of  liquor  and  billiard  saloons  and 
dance  houses.  Port  Said  is  one  of  the  most  lawless  of 
places,  the  inhabitants  being  composed  largely  of  those 
classes  who  have  found  it  inconvenient  and  unpleasant  to 
remain  at  home  In  the  different  countries  of  Europe.  Our 
captain  tells  me  they  are  the  scum  of  all  countries,  and 
that  the  licentiousness  is  something  phenomenal.  The 
dance  houses  are  made  attractive  at  night  by  the  presence 
of  girls  who  shamelessly  play  the  character  of  Eve.  When 
this  last  fact  Is  considered,  I  cease  to  regret  that  we  Avere 
not  allowed  to  land.  The  Cingalese  bath  girls  were  about 
as  much  as  my  proverbially  strong  mental  composition 
could  stand. 

From  here  we  go  to   Alexandria,  to  make  one  more 

attempt  to  penetrate  the  land  of  the  Pharaohs.    We  really 

begin  to  feel  as  if  we  were  a  part  of  one  of  the  lost  tribes 

Judea.     What  "  gravels "  us  most  is  that  the  natives  we 

see  here  are  a  standing  invitation  to  the  cholera  or  any 

other  scourge.     They  are  the  remnants   of  the  hosts  of 

Pharaoh   that  were  swallowed  up  in  the  Red  Sea.     My 

own  opinion  is  that  it  was  an  unkind  Deity  that  saved 

21 


322  WHAT  I  SAW, 

any  seed  for  such  a  race  from  the  raging  waters.  Here  is 
Egypt,  and  I  could  hurl  a  stone  into  it.  On  the  other 
hand  is  Palestine  scarcely  a  hundred  miles  inland,  and  yet 
we  must  pass  on.  I  am  mad,  and  getting  madder  each 
day.  Because  forsooth,  we  have  been  traveling  in  India, 
we  must  go  on  to  Europe  and  wear  sackcloth  and  ashes 
for  a  month  or  more. 

Alexandria,  Egypt,  January  27th. — We  are  here  in 
quarantine  once  more,  anchored  out  a  mile  from  the  shore. 
We  can  see  the  fortifications,  which  look  to  be  on  a  large 
scale,  the  khedive's  palace  and  Pompey's  Pillar  in  the 
distance.  It  is  a  blessing  that  we  are  permitted  to  look 
at  Egypt  from  a  distance,  and  we  suppose  we  should  be 
devoutly  thankful  for  the  privilege.  We  are  supposed  to 
be  inoculated  with  the  germs  of  the  cholera,  though  if 
such  was  really  the  case  it  is  a  little  strange  that  the  dis- 
ease has  not  made  its  appearance  in  the  fifteen  days  since 
we  left  Bombay.  Every  body  is  disgusted.  Even  the 
ship's  tom  cat  feels  the  dishonor  that  has  been  put  upon 
him,  and  last  night  whiled  away  the  hours  wath  vigorous 
protesting  yowls.  At  least  I  suppose  that  was  what  was 
the  matter  with  him,  as  the  usual  controlling  principle  of 
caterwauling  was  absent  in  his  case.  • 

I  believe  that  somewhere  in  this  letter  I  have  at  least 
intimated  that  lying  in  quarantine  is  an  unmitigated  nui- 
sance. If  I  have  neglected  to  speak  of  it,  I  will  insert 
the  declaration  here.  Here  we  are,  and  can  not  discharge 
a  passenger  or  a  ton  of  cargo ;  not  even  a  letter  can  be 
sent  ashore.  We  must  stay  here  for  four  days,  to  purify 
ourselves  for  Italy. 

This  is  the  last  port  of  Egypt,  and  our  only  hope  of 
being  allowed  to  land  is  gone.  We  are  going  to  get  out 
as  soon  as  we  can,  solely  because  we  can't  get  in.  We 
will  spend  some  little  time  in  Italy,  Germany,  and  Ire- 


AND  HO W  I  SAW  IT.  323 

land,  and  sail  for  home  early  in  March  in  a  state  of  dis- 
gust, satisfied,  however,  in  one  regard,  that  we  have  made 
the  circuit  of  the  globe.  Should  life  and  good  health  con- 
tinue we  will  next  Winter  approach  the  Sultan's  dominions 
on  the  other  tack,  and  get  in  by  the  way  of  Europe.  We 
have  here  a  squad  of  Egyptian  officials,  in  a  small  boat, 
watching  us  as  closely  as  if  we  were  pirates  or  smugglers. 
This  in  addition  to  an  official  who  is  placed  on  board  and 
will  accompany  us  to  Europe,  determined  that  none  of  us 
shall  get  away. 

Sunday,  January  29th. — "We  had  a  little  variation  to- 
day from  the  usual  monotony.  A  small  boat  came  out, 
and  we  bargained  for  some  figs.  The  boatman  handed 
them  up  in  a  bucket,  and  we  sent  the  money  in  the  same 
receptacle.  The  coin  was  thoroughly  washed  before  he 
would  touch  it.  I  made  him  break  his  quarantine,  how- 
ever, by  dropping  Into  his  boat  a  biscuit,  which  he  eagerly 
clutched  and  voraciously  munched,  apparently  thinking 
that  hunger  was  more  to  be  feared  than  the  cholera. 

Our  party  leaves  to-day  for  the  upper  Nile,  so  it  would 
do  us  no  good  to  get  ashore  to-morrow.  I  am  considerate 
enough  to  hope  they  will  have  a  pleasant  excursion.  We 
would  like  very  much  to  bear  them  company,  but  circum- 
stances wholly  beyond  our  control  render  it  impossible. 
Ta,  ta !     Our  blessings  go  wdth  you ! 

Just  as  we  are  leaving  our  anchorage  we  are  informed 
by  telegraph  that  we  would  be  permitted  to  land  at  Brin- 
disl.  ifow,  that 's  kind  !  That 's  considerate  !  We  did 
not  know  but  perhaps  we  would  be  compelled  to  wander 
up  and  down  the  oceans  during  the  succeeding  years. 

I  see  by  the  papers  that  ten  days  after  we  left  China 
the  coast  of  that  delectable  country  was  swept  by  a  typhoon 
that  destroyed  more  than  three  thousand  lives.  All  this 
occurred  while  we  were  passing  up  the  west  coast  of  Su- 


324  WHAT  I  SAW, 

matra,  in  water  as  calm  and  unruffled  as  a  mill  pond.  We 
feel  devoutly  thankful  for  our  escape. 

The  second  day  out  we  are  passing  the  west  end  of  the 
island  of  Candia,  with  its  towering  mountains.  AVe  do  n't 
know  whether  we  could  have  landed  or  not,  but  didn't 
try.  These  mountains  of  Candia  are  said  to  be  eight 
thousand  feet  high,  and  are  tipped  with  snow.  We  pass 
within  five  or  six  miles  of  the  coast,  and  have  a  good 
view  of  the  range,  which  remind  me  much  of  the  Sierra 
K evadas  of  California. 

The  weather  in  the  Mediterranean  sea  is  different  from 
that  we  experienced  in  the  tropics.  The  sky  has  lost  that 
perennial  clearness,  and  assumed  the  cloudy,  dull,  leaden 
appearance  indicative  of  colder  weather  and  equally  sug- 
gestive of  sudden  squalls  of  wind. 

Last  night  (the  second  out  from  Alexandria)  we  en- 
countered a  severe  storm,  which  shattered  our  hopes  of 
making  the  tour  of  the  world  without  having  experienced 
a  blow.  I  suppose  the  sailors  did  not  think  it  much  of  a 
blow,  but  I  classed  it  among  the  "terrible  gales."  It 
blew  all  night,  and  the  waves  ran  "  mountains  high,"  that 
is,  little  mountains,  and  for  the  first  time  my  estimable 
companion  contributed  to  the  sustenance  of  the  fishes.  By 
a  superhuman  effort  I  managed  to  retain  control  of  my 
stomach.  But  I  have  enough  of  seasickness.  Quite 
enouo-h !  It  seems  to  me  like  a  combination  of  all  the 
ordinary  causes  of  illness.  One  minute  the  sufferer  is 
afraid  he  Avill  die  the  next,  and  the  next  he  is  sorry  he 
did  n't.  The  weather  continues  to  get  colder,  and  to-day 
the  mercury  was  down  to  forty  degrees.  This  sudden 
transition  from  India,  where  it  hardly  ever  fell  below 
eighty-five,  is  trying  to  our  sensibilities. 

To-morrow  we  will  land  at  Brindisi,  and,  if  we  are  so 
fortunate,  we  will  proceed  thence  at  once  by  rail  to  Naples. 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  325 

Brindisi,  Italy,  February  2d. — We  are  devoutly  thank- 
ful for  the  privilege  of  again  placing  our  feet  upon  solid 
ground,  even  if  that  ground  is  hundreds  of  miles  from  our 
objective  point.  We  were  on  board  the  Bolcara  for  twenty- 
one  days,  and  only  went  on  shore  once,  at  Aden,  in  Arabia. 

This  is  but  a  small  place,  and  as  a  train  for  Naples  is 
ready  in  one  hour,  we  secure  our  baggage,  hastily  receive 
the  respects  of  the  customs  officers,  and  are  off. 

An  incident  at  the  depot  served  to  convince  us  that 
the  baggage  men  of  Italy  do  not  differ  materially  from 
their  brethren  the  world  over.  The  fellow  who  carried 
our  luggage  demanded  three  francs  for  his  services.  I 
offered  him  one,  and,  with  a  biting  sarcasm,  he  declared 
that,  I,  being  a  gentleman,  he  would  not  charge  me  any 
thing.  The  satire  was  wholly  lost  upon  me,  however,  and 
I  coolly  put  the  money  back  in  my  pocket,  and  took  my 
seat  in  the  car.  The  fellow  evidently  reconsidered  his  de- 
termination, however,  for  he  soon  put  in  a  reappearance, 
and  remarked  that  he  would  endeavor  to  be  satisfied  with 
the  franc.  He  had  concluded  that  for  once  he  had  tackled 
parties  who,  having  been  "skinned"  in  nearly  every 
quarter  of  the  globe,  were  getting  weary  of  the  game  of 
extortion. 

Now,  we  are  in  Europe,  and,  by  being  compelled  to 
change  our  programme,  we  have  saved  three  thousand 
miles  of  travel  and  more  than  $1,100  in  money,  but  are 
nevertheless  disgusted  with  the  affair,  which  disgust  is  not 
in  the  least  decreased  by  the  knowledge  that  our  tour  of 
Europe  is  to  be  made  in  the  cold  of  February  instead  of 
in  April,  as  originally  calculated  upon.  The  railroad 
train  on  which  we  are  just  starting  for  Naples  has  a  Pnll- 
man  car  attached,  which  reminds  us  more  of  home  than 
any  thing  we  have  seen  since  leaving  San  Francisco.  We 
pass  over  a  level  country,  mostly   devoted  to  the  raising 


326  WHAT  I  SAW, 

of  wheat,  mulberry,  and  fruit.  The  soil  is  limestone. 
Peaches  and  cherries  are  in  bloom,  yet  we  are  in  the  same 
latitude  as  Columbus.  The  wind  is  quite  sharp,  at  least 
it  seems  so  to  us. 

I  am  writing  this  paragraph  at  a  junction,  where  we 
are  compelled  to  wait  for  four  hours.  As  it  is  night,  we 
can  not  see  the  town,  and  can  form  no  intelligent  idea  of 
the  surrounding  country.  My  impression  is  that  it  is 
mainly  important  as  a  crossing  of  prominent  trunk  lines. 
We  are  to  be  in  Naples  at  seven  in  the  morning,  and  will 
there  tarry  for  a  few  days,  taking  in  the  sights  and  form- 
ing impressions  of  the  Neapolitans. 

We  fully  realize  the  contrast  between  Europe  and  the 
Orient,  between  the  qualified  civilization  of  Southern 
Italy  and  the  undisguised  barbarism  of  China  and  India. 
We  are  entering  Europe  by  the  back  door  as  it  were, 
and  will  pass  rapidly  through  the  premises,  halting  but  a 
short  time  in  the  diiferent  apartments.  Europe  has  been 
written  up  so  often  and  so  thoroughly  that  it  has  be- 
come as  familiar  to  Americans  almost  as  their  own  country. 
We  look  forward,  however,  to  the  tour  of  Ireland  with 
much  expectation.  We  are  now  five-sixths  of  the  way 
around  the  world,  and  the  remainder  wall  soon  pass  under 
our  feet.  We  could  reach  home  in  fifteen  days,  but  Eu- 
rope presents  even  more  attractions  for  us. 

Naples,  February  4th  —  After  riding  all  night,  we 
reached  here  at  eight  o'clock  this  morning.  The  route 
from  Brindisi  is  over  the  Apennine  Mountains,  and  is 
said  to  be  very  romantic,  but  the  fine  scenery  was  all  lost 
upon  us,  as  the  night  was  dark  as  pitch,  and  by  us  largely 
devoted  to  much  needed  rest.  The  weather  was  dis- 
agreeably cool,  and  the  advent  of  day  showed  a  white 
frost  covering  the  ground.  Such  a  frost  in  America  would 
prove  disastrous  to   "  garden  truck."      We  do  n't   know 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  327 

what  may  be  the  effect  in  Italy,  but  we  saw  acres  of  gar- 
dens upon  which  the  coating  of  ice  glistened  in  the  morn- 
ing sun. 

We  have  not  yet  seen  any  thing  of  Naples,  except 
Mount  Vesuvius,  which  is  pouring  out  its  clouds  of  smoke, 
forming  a  dense  black  mass  in  the  sky.  The  old  adage 
says,  "See  Naples  and  die,"  but  I  will  be  able  to  express 
an  opinion  upon  the  aphorism  in  my  next. 


328  WHAT  I  SAW. 


XXVII. 

Naples  and  Rome — The  Ascent  of  Mount  Vesuvius — An  Un- 
pleasant Adventure  with  a  Guide — Ramble  Among  the 
Ruins  of  Pompeii — Rome  and  the  Romans,  Ancient  and  Mod- 
ern— The  Coliseum — St.  Peter's — Wandering  Through  the 
Catacombs. 

Rome,  Italy,  February  ii,  1882. 

There  is  much  said  by  tourists  regarding  the  great 
beauty  of  Naples,  its  skies,  its  palaces,  its  bay,  etc. 
\Vith  such  sights  we  felt  surfeited,  and  turned  our  atten- 
tion to  the  greater  novelty  of  Vesuvius  and  Pompeii. 
The  morning  of  our  arrival  we  procured  tickets  and  pas- 
sage on  the  railroad  which  ascends  Vesuvius.  The  dis- 
tance by  stage  to  the  station  near  the  foot  of  the  mountain 
is  about  twelve  miles,  over  a  serpentine  road,  picturesque 
only  after  it  rises  the  foot-hills  and  gives  a  view  of  the 
stately  city  and  magnificent  harbor.  AVe  entered  the  car 
at  an  elevation  of  perhaps  two  thousand  feet  and  ascended 
by  rail,  over  probably  the  most  remarkably  located  rail- 
road in  the  world,  to  a  height  of  three  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  feet.  The  construction  of  a  railroad  up 
the  side  of  a  mountain  is  in  itself  nothing  peculiar  in  the 
science  of  engineering,  but  when  that  mountain  is  an 
active  volcano,  and  the  road-bed  pure  lava,  mingled  with 
scoria  and  other  recrement,  it  becomes  a  novelty  which 
nowhere  else  on  earth  finds  its  parallel. 

At  the  height  mentioned  the  railroad  terminates,  and 
the  traveler  must  needs  foot  it  from  that  point  to  the 
crater.     The  accompanying  guide  is  often  a  physical  assist- 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  329 

ance  in  passing  the  rugged  points,  where  obstructions  are 
to  be  overcome  and  chasms  crossed.  Mrs.  C.  succumbed 
to  the  physical  exertion  necessary,  but  I  pushed  on,  de- 
termined to  see  all  that  lay  between  me  and  the  "dead 
line"  of  positive  danger.  I  passed  down  into  the  old 
crater,  over  sulphurous  ashes  and  lava,  yet  hot  and  blister- 
ing to  the  feet.  I  went  around  to  the  Pompeii  side,  and 
stopped  within  ten  feet  of  an  open  crater,  inactive,  yet 
still  glowing  with  a  furnace-like  heat.  I  could  look  down 
into  the  vast  vortex  filled  with  red-hot  lava,  and  all 
around  were  wide  fissures  which  emitted  volumes  of  sul- 
phurous vapor.  I  ascended  from  the  side  of  the  mountain 
looking  over  and  beyond  Pompeii,  and  on  the  north-east 
side  approached  the  crater  that  is  in  active  eruption.  Due 
regard  for  safety  kept  us  at  a  distance  of  about  half  a 
mile,  where  for  some  time  we  stood  and  watched  the  play. 
Every  few  minutes  the  lava  would  be  ejected  in  jets  of 
fire,  mingled  with  smoke  and  fumes  of  sulphur.  The 
sight  is  very  attractive,  but  the  conviction  which  con-  ^ 
stantly  forces  itself  upon  the  mind  that  there  is  no  place 
on  the  mountain  of  absolute  safety,  combined  with  the 
discomfort  of  an  atmosphere  impregnated  with  sulphur, 
mars  to  a  great  extent  the  beauty  of  the  view.  The  red- 
hot  stones  are  projected  to  a  great  height,  with  a  noise  like 
thunder,  and  fall  at  considerable  distances.  For  miles 
around  the  volcano  the  earth  is  covered  with  lava,  evi- 
dencing the  force  and  volume  of  previous  eruptions.  In 
some  places,  in  fact,  nearly  everywhere,  this  strata  of  lava 
has  become  covered  with  soil,  which  is  remarkably  pro- 
ductive. Villages,  vineyards,  and  olive  orchards  are  loca- 
ted on  the  sides  of  the  mountain,  wherever  the  soil  has 
found  a  lodgment,  and  the  natives  pursue  their  vocations 
in  the  quietude  of  apparent  security,  seemingly  without  a 
realization  that  a  few  hours  may  overwhelm  them  with 


330  WHAT  I  SAW, 

streams  of  molten  lava.  It  is  the  same  the  world  over. 
The  constant  presence  of  danger  lessens  its  terrors,  and 
men  come  to  view  with  complacency  the  perils  that  are 
most  manifest. 

I  succumbed  to  the  mephitic  vapors  and  physical  ex- 
ertion, and  declined  to  accompany  the  rest  of  the  party 
around  to  the  other  side  of  the  mountain.  My  guide,  with 
whom  I  was  alone,  was  not  the  most  cheerful  companion 
in  the  world.  If  ever  the  countenance  of  a  human  being 
was  indelibly  impressed  with  the  stamp  of  villain,  that 
fellow's  was.  I  was  not,  therefore,  surprised  when  he 
attempted  to  rob  me.  He  first  endeavored  to  lead  me  into 
an  out-of-the-way  place.  This  I  saw  and  protested  against. 
He  asserted  that  it  was  the  best,  and,  in  fact,  the  only 
route  to  the  point  which  we  desired  to  reach,  and  I  ac- 
companied him  a  short  distance  into  a  ravine.  There  he 
stopped  and  said :  "  Now,  you  give  money !"  Even  the 
romance  of  being  robbed  on  Mount  Vesuvius  had  no  at- 
tractions for  me,  and  I  refused  his  demand.  But  I  was 
evidently  in  for  an  adventure  of  some  kind,  and  as  he  had 
every  advantage  over  me,  I  decided  to  parley  a  little  with 
him.  I  asked  him  how  much  he  wanted.  He  named  a 
startling  sum,  and  I  told  him  I  did  not  have  so  much 
with  me,  but  would  pay  him  when  we  returned  to  the 
hotel.  I  was  very  silly  to  think  the  practiced  scoundrel 
would  fall  into  such  a  trap,  and  as  I  started  to  walk  away 
from  him  he  stopped  me.  Things  were  "rapidly  nearing 
a  crisis,"  as  the  saying  is,  and  it  became  evident  to  me 
that  I  was  about  to  be  robbed,  and  would  be  lucky  if  I 
was  provided  the  opportunity  ever  to  tell  the  romantic 
story  to  my  friends.  How  easy  it  would  have  been  for 
him  to  drive  his  ever-ready  knife  through  me  and  drop 
the  body  into  one  of  the  numerous  fissures  that  opened  in 
every  direction  beneath  our  feet.     All  this  passed  rapidly 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  331 

through  my  mind  as  I  stood  and  hurriedly  scanned  his  vil- 
lainous features.  Cremation  in  the  seething  fires  of  the 
volcano  had  no  charms  for  me,  and  I  began  to  further  tem- 
2)orize  with  him.  It  will  surprise  my  readers  to  learn  that 
I  was  not  frightened.  It  may  have  been  the  courage  of 
desperation,  but  I  looked  the  rascal  squarely  in  the  eye  and 
talked  to  him  as  calmly  as  if  I  had  been  discussing  some 
minor  Cjuestion  of  domestic  economy  with  my  worthy 
sjjouse.  The  crisis  of  which  I  have  spoken  was  disagree- 
ably near  at  hand  when,  much  to  my  relief,  the  other 
members  of  our  party  appeared,  and  the  negotiations  sud- 
denly came  to  a  (to  me)  satisfactory  conclusion. 

I  am  firmly  convinced,  not  only  by  this  experience, 
but  from  the  appearance  and  actions  of  the  fellows  gener- 
ally, that  the  guides  of  Mt.  Vesuvius  are  a  gang  of  bandits 
who  will  not  hesitate  to  rob  the  tourist,  and  murder  him 
if  necessary.  My  advice  to  all  is,  never  allow  yourself  to 
be  alone  with  one  of  them  for  a  moment.  I  have  had  my 
experience,  and  it  is  quite  sufiicient. 

All  this,  however,  did  not  destroy  my  relish  for  the 
novelty  of  the  scene  spread  before  me.  Its  grandeur  is 
beyond  the  adequate  description  of  much  more  facile  jjens 
than  mine.  As  I  looked  into  the  crater  now  cooling,  the 
edge  of  which  was  but  ten  feet  distant  from  where  I  stood, 
it  was  like  gazing  into  a  vast  open  furnace  filled  with  half 
molten  metal.  At  a  distance  of  half  a  mile  was  the  active 
crater,  pouring  forth  volumes  of  flame  and  smoke,  min- 
gled at  intervals  with  jets  of  lava  and  half  melted  rocks, 
a  picture  of  the  majesty  of  aroused  nature  that  leaves  a 
lasting  impress  upon  the  brain. 

The  descent  was  as  difficult  almost  as  the  going  up, 
although  I  suppose  the  average  tourist,  who  prides  him- 
self upon  the  chamois-like  foolhardiness  and  agility  that 
has  carried  him  to  the  summit  of  the  Alps,  thinks  little 


332  WHAT  I  SAW, 

of  the  task.  Alternate  floundering  through  ashes  and 
climbing  over  chasms  and  other  ol)structions  brought  us 
finally  to  the  station,  from  whence  the  descent  is  made  by- 
train,  and  we  reached  the  hotel  about  dark,  with  double 
thankfulness — that  Ave  had  lived  to  ascend  Mount  Vesu- 
vius, and  lived  to  return. 

The  following  day  was  devoted  to  a  visit  to  Pompeii, 
that  buried  relic  of  nearly  two  thousand  years  ago. 
Knowing  that  the  utmost  endeavor  would  scarcely  enable 
us  to  condense  into  one  day  one-tenth  the  manifold  attrac- 
tions of  the  ancient  Roman  city,  we  started  early,  and  by 
seven  o'clock  were  on  our  w^ay.  The  drive  is  a  long  but 
by  no  means  a  tedious  one.  The  route  lies  through  many 
villages,  giving  the  traveler  a  reasonably  clear  impression 
of  the  customs  and  habits  of  the  Neapolitan  peasantry. 

About  eleven  o'clock  we  reached  the  entrance  to  the 
ruined  city.  Here  there  is  a  hotel,  where  we  left  our 
carriage,  and  after  paying  a  small  admittance  fee  were 
allowed  to  pass  in. 

The  history  of  this  ancient  Roman  city  is,  or  should 
be,  familiar  to  every  school-boy.  It  was  undoubtedly  one 
of  the  most  wealthy  and  fashionable  provincial  cities  of 
the  Roman  Empire.  In  A.  D.  79  it,  together  wdth  the 
adjacent  city  of  Herculaneum,  was  overwhelmed  by  an 
eruption  of  Vesuvius  and  buried  nearly  a  hundred  feet 
beneath  a  shower  of  lava,  scoria,  and  volcanic  stones.  In 
1750,  after  the  lapse  of  nearly  seventeen  hundred  years, 
its  location  was  discovered  by  accident.  It  seems  strange 
that  the  city  should  so  long  have  remained  hidden,  as  his- 
tory contemporaneous  with  its  destruction  gives  a  strik- 
ingly vivid  account  of  the  event.  The  loss  of  life  is  sup- 
posed not  to  have  been  very  great,  as  history  records  that 
the  inhabitants  generally  escaped,  and  comparatively  few 
human  remains  have  been  discovered  in  the  excavations. 


AND  HOW  1  SAW  IT.  333 

I  can  best  perhaps  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  ruins  by  employing  a  homely  simile.  In 
the  first  place,  imagine  the  little  city  of  Bucyrus  buried 
beneath  a  hundred  feet  of  ashes  for  two  thousand  years, 
its  existence  half-forgotten,  its  location  uncertain.  Fancy 
then  the  uncovering  of  perhaps  one-half  of  it,  the  debris 
carefully  carted  away,  the  streets  cleared,  the  roofless 
houses  exposed,  the  thousands  of  imperishable  articles  that 
to-day  compose  the  facilities  for  household  conduct  un- 
earthed and  spread  before  the  wondering  eyes  of  the  world 
of  twenty  centuries  hence,  and  you  will  have  a  faint  idea 
of  the  picture  presented  to  the  eye  to-day  in  Pompeii. 

We  entered  a  wide,  high  archw^ay  of  stone,  with  one 
passage  way  for  teams  and  the  other  for  pedestrians,  and 
after  passing  up  quite  a  hill,  we  were  in  the  ancient  city. 
The  streets  run  nearly  at  right  angles,  and  are  paved  with 
bowlders.  The  wheel  marks  of  the  ancient  Roman  ve- 
hicles have  formed  quite  a  gutter,  and  give  evidence  of 
the  great  antiquity  of  the  city  at  the  date  of  its  destruction. 
At  the  street  crossings  are  stepping-stones  for  pedestrians, 
many  of  which  are  sixteen  inches  in  height.  The  cart- 
w^heels  must  have  been  of  considerable  diameter  to  allow 
the  axle  to  clear  these.  Some  of  the  streets  are  wide, 
and  some  have  alleys  connecting  them  through  the  squares, 
just  as  the  thoroughfares  are  arranged  in  these  latter  days. 
We  went  to  the  bake  shops,  the  wine  shops,  and  to  the 
grand  theater,  said  to  have  had  a  seating  capacity  for 
twenty  thousand  people.  I  noticed  that  the  stone  step 
over  which  we  passed  into  the  building  was  deep  worn  by 
the  attrition  of  millions  of  sandaled  feet.  The  places 
where  the  wnld  beasts  were  kept  preparatory  to  the  con- 
tests with  the  gladiators,  w^hich  formed  the  standard  amuse- 
ments of  the  ancient  Romans,  are  still  seen.  The  arena  is 
in  an  excellent  state  of  preservation.     From  the  theater  we 


334  WHAT  I  SAW, 

went  to  a  palace  which  still  gives  evidence  of  the  luxury 
with  which  the  aristocracy  of  Rome  were  surrounded.  The 
mosaic  of  the  floors  is  well  preserved.  We  visited  the 
bath  rooms  and  the  bake  rooms.  In  the  latter,  the  ovens 
look  as  if  the  fires  might  have  been  extinguished  but  yes- 
terday. When  this  building  was  unearthed,  loaves  of 
bread  were  found  in  the  oven,  and  are  now  preserved,  as  is 
every  thing  else  portable,  and  valued  as  relics,  in  the  mu- 
seum at  Naples.  The  cisterns,  composed  of  red  clay,  which 
formerly  held  the  stock  in  trade  of  the  wine  merchant,  are 
yet  well  preserved.  The  work  of  excavation  continues, 
but  with  that  deliberation  and  evident  distaste  for  speed 
and  exertion  that  distinguishes  the  Italian  character.  The 
visitor  is  carefully  watched,  and  not  allowed  to  appropro- 
iate  any  of  the  curiosities  and  mementos  of  his  visit,  that 
tempt  him  on  every  hand.  The  ashes  in  which  every 
thing  is  imbedded  are  carried  in  baskets  to  a  cart,  and 
thence  conveyed  to  a  distance  and  dumped.  Every  shov- 
elful taken  from  the  inside  of  a  building  is  carefully  ex- 
amined, and  all  articles  in  the  form  of  relics  of  the  former 
residents  are  sedulously  preserved  for  the  museum.  We  de- 
voted one  entire  day  to  wandering  through  these  ruins,  our 
thoughts  occupied  largely  by  speculations  upon  the  people 
who  walked  its  streets  nearly  twenty  centuries  ago — a  peo- 
ple who  lived,  loved,  and  labored  as  we  do,  who  were  actu- 
ated by  the  same  ambitions  and  suffered  from  the  same 
disappointments  that  we  do.  I  stood  at  the  entrance  to  the 
grand  theater,  and  my  thoughts  centered  upon  the  scenes 
there  enacted  at  the  period  when  Christ  was  an  infant  in 
his  virgin  mother's  arms.  Where  now  are  the  feet  that 
eighteen  hundred  years  ago  pressed  these  steps?  Where 
the  bright  eyes  that  were  wont  to  glow  with  the  excite- 
ment of  the  gladiatorial  combats?  Passed  away!  Min- 
gled with  the  countless   legions  who  had  preceded  them, 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  335 

and  even  the  knowledge  of  their  existence  was  buried  for 
nearly  seventeen  hundred  years!  Such  sentiment  was  in- 
terrupted, however,  by  a  realization  that  the  physical  de- 
mands of  the  present  must  not  be  neglected — that  Naples 
and  supper  were  twelve  miles  away. 

I  have  read  much  of  the  beggars  of  Naples,  and  ex- 
pected to  be  overwhelmed  by  their  persistency.  I  was 
agreeably  disappointed.  They  are  angels  of  meekness  and 
humility,  compared  with  the  mendicants  of  India.  The 
bay  of  Naples  has  been  the  theme  of  enthusiasts  from  time 
immemorial.  While  it  is  very  beautiful  and  picturesque, 
it  does  not  exceed,  in  my  opinion,  that  of  Hong  Kong. 
The  city,  in  some  regards,  is  handsome,  but  not  sufficiently 
so  to  throw  me  into  ecstasies  of  delight.  The  hotels  are 
good.  We  were  struck  with  the  novelty  of  waiters  with 
standing  collars  and  swallow-tailed  coats,  after  our  tur- 
baned,  white-robed,  and  bare-footed  lackeys  of  India.  We 
felt  a  little  embarrassed  at  first,  fearing  that  we  might 
mistake  a  prince  of  the  blood  royal  for  a  servant.  The 
numerous  churches  and  palaces  of  the  city  did  not  strike 
our  sense  of  admiration  to  an  alarming  extent.  We  have, 
metaphorically  speaking,  feasted  on  temjDles  and  palaces 
during  the  three  past  months,  and  our  appetite  for  such 
architectural  pabulum  is  cloyed. 

We  spent  a  half  day  very  pleasantly  feeding  upon  the 
wonders  of  the  Pompeii  museum.  Among  the  legion  of 
curious  things  displayed,  we  were  struck  by  the  resem- 
blance of  many  of  the  relics  to  the  conveniences  of  to-day. 
We  saw  planes,  foot-adzes,  compasses,  scales,  bowls,  jew- 
elry, glass  bottles,  and  many  other  things  that  find  their 
almost  exact  counterpart  in  the  instruments  used  at  pres- 
ent. My  confidence  in  things  new  was  somewhat  shaken. 
I  saw  one  instrument  that  as  closely  resembled  the  Amer- 
ican corn-husker  as  any  thing  could,  not  to  be  identical. 


336  WIIA  T  I  SA  W, 

Strange  it  would  be,  if  the  idea  had  been  cribbed  by  a 
predatory  Yankee  from  some  Pompeian  genius  of  a  couple 
of  thousand  years  ago.  Even  if  so,  however,  the  present 
manufacturer  need  feel  no  uneasiness,  as  the  original  in- 
ventor is  probably  dead.  The  tools  in  the  museum  are 
either  iron  (perhaps  a  species  of  steel)  or  copper,  and  are 
badly  corroded.  This  museum  has  a  tendency  to  set  the 
visitor  to  thinking,  and  wondering  whether,  after  all,  the 
nineteenth  century  is  so  far  in  advance.  Here  we  have 
the  genuine  "  old  masters  "  in  art.  Sections  of  the  walls 
in  buildings  of  Pompeii,  containing  pictures  as  bright  in 
in  color  as  though  painted  but  yesterday,  have  been  re- 
moved to  the  museum.  I  might  devote  columns  to  the 
description  of  the  varied  novelties  of  this  collection,  but 
most  of  my  readers  have  doubtless  perused  chapters  of 
much  greater  descriptive  merit  than  I  could  hope  to  write. 

AVe  remained  four  days  in  Najjles,  which  was  time 
sufficient  to  satisfy  the  curiosity  that  had  been  somewhat 
circumscribed  and  dulled  by  a  varied  experience  of  sev- 
eral months  of  travel.  We  traveled  by  rail,  over  a  moun- 
tainous road,  every  foot  almost  of  which  is  classic  ground, 
and  arrived  here  at  ten  o'clock  P.  M.  We  are  stopping 
at  the  "  Florenzia."  The  next  day  after  our  arrival  we 
procured  the  necessary  guide  and  started  out  to  view  the 
sights  of  Rome.  This  chaperon  is  not  "  the  noblest  Ro- 
man of  them  all,"  but  he  is  a  vast  improvement  over  the 
Neapolitan  bandit  under  whose  care  we  ascended  Vesuvius. 
He  has,  in  addition,  a  knowledge  of  Rome  which  I  could 
safely  envy. 

It  can  hardly  be  expected  of  me  to  enter  upon  a  de- 
tailed description  of  the  city  of  Rome,  and  I  will  there- 
fore confine  myself  to  a  brief  mention  of  the  most  notable 
features  that  passed  within  the  scope  of  my  observation. 
We  have  endeavored   to   "  do "   the  city  in  a  reasonably 


AXD  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  337 

complete  manner,  as  upon  our  next  visit  to  Europe  we 
expect  to  pass  hurriedly  through  and  push  on  to  Egypt 
and  the  Holy  Land.  Almost  the  first  object  that  attracted 
my  very  practical  attention  was  the  fine  horses,  which  cer- 
tainly are  nowhere  excelled.  The  carriages  also  are  not 
surpassed  in  London,  Paris,  or  Xew  York.  At  this  sea- 
son of  the  year,  the  weather  in  Rome  is  cool  to  braciness, 
with  frost  in  the  mornings ;  yet  on  every  side  you  will 
see  orange  and  lemon  trees,  with  pendent  fruit. 

Our  first  visit  was  to  the  Parthenon,  and  thence  we 
made  the  round  of  the  churches,  big  churches  and  little 
churches,  fine  churches  and  common  piles,  all  kinds  of 
churches  except  new  ones.  So  far  as  my  observation  ex- 
tends, there  is  nothing  new  in  Pome.  Every  thing  bears 
the  unmistakable  impress  of  age,  but  so  substantial  are 
the  churches,  j^alaces,  and  even  the  ruins,  that  there  is 
little  appearance  of  decay.  Many  of  the  first  named  date 
back  to  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  Era,  and  in  one, 
the  Church  of  the  Holy  Stairs,  the  steps,  brought  from 
Jerusalem,  are  those  which  tradition,  if  not  history,  says 
Christ  frequently  ascended.  We  saw  much  disgusting 
idolatry  in  Japan  and  India,  and  prided  ourselves  that 
we  were  Christians,  and  idolatry  among  us  is  unknown. 
When  I  stood  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Stairs  and  saw 
professed  Christians  crawling  up  the  steps  upon  their 
hands  and  knees,  I  wondered  whether,  after  all,  we  did 
not  claim  too  much.  The  holy  steps  are  covered  with 
wood  to  preserve  them  from  wear,  and  my  guide  told  me 
the  present  covering,  which  is  worn  thin,  was  the  third 
that  had  been  so  placed. 

We   went  out  to   the  ruins  of  Csesar's  Viaduct,  and 

thence  to  the  Coliseum.     Even  the  ruins  of  this  immense 

structure  are  grand  in  their  immensity,  and  give,  perhaps 

more  fully  than  any  other  of  the  immense  ruins  of  Rome, 

22 


338  WHAT  I  SAW, 

an  idea  of  its  former  appearance.  The  present  structure, 
as  history  records,  was  commenced  in  72  by  Flavius  Ves- 
pasian, and  was  finished  in  the  reign  of  his"  son  Titus.  It 
was  capable  of  seating  eighty-seven  thousand  persons  and 
providing  standing  room  for  twenty  thousand  more.  It  is 
said  that  the  labor  of  thirty  thousand  Jewish  prisoners 
was  employed  in  its  construction.  The  building  was  roof- 
less, and  arranged  with  an  awning  that  could  be  drawn 
down  at  pleasure  to  protect  the  audience  from  the  storm 
or  rays  of  the  sun.  The  form  is  oval,  and  the  shape  and 
arrangement  of  the  seats,  rising  one  above  another,  pro- 
vided the  model  upon  which  all  modern  theaters  are  ar- 
ranged. We  could  see  where  the  wild  beasts  were  kept, 
the  rooms  for  the  confinement  of  prisoners  whose  contests 
with  the  lions,  tigers,  and  other  blood-thirsty  animals  fur- 
nished amusement  for  the  Roman  emperors,  patricians,  and 
"plebeian  rabble."  We  spent  several  hours  at  this  point 
and  in  the  vicinity,  where  extensive  excavations  are  being 
made,  bringing  to  light  many  relics  of  Pagan  Rome — the 
Rome  "  who  sat  upon  her  seven  hills  and  from  her  throne 
of  beauty  ruled  the  world." 

Turning  from  these  scenes  to  the  street  of  the  Rome  of 
to-day,  looking  upon  the  gay  pageant  where  richly  capar- 
isoned horses,  and  elegant  carriages  filled  with  finely 
dressed  ladies  and  gentlemen,  dashed  by,  my  thoughts 
wandered  over  the  events  of  more  than  two  thousand 
years,  and  endeavored  to  picture  the  changes  that  have 
been  wrought  since  the  ambitious  Julius  Caesar,  the  cruel 
Nero,  and  heartless  Caligula  ruled  and  ruined  Rome. 
It  is  almost  impossible  for  the  mind  to  comprehend  that 
this  is  Rome,  the  mistress  of  the  world,  whose  victorious 
legions  swept  the  plains  of  Turkey,  penetrated  the  fast- 
nesses of  Gaul,  and  devastated  the  hills  and  valleys  of 
Briton.      Through  these   streets   marched    the    triumphal 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  339 

Csesar;  here  lived  and  loved,  the  brilliant,  but  misguided, 
Marc  Antony;  here  Brutus  intrigued  and  himself  sought 
the  crown  which  his  friend  and  victim  of  his  treachery- 
had  "thrice  refused;"  here  Cicero  wielded  the  mighty 
force  of  his  oratory,  and  the  envious  Catiline  plotted  his 
own  overthrow.  When  the  Coliseum  was  built,  the  per- 
secution and  martyrdom  of  Paul  was  fresh  in  the  minds 
of  the  poeple,  and  the  crucifixion  of  our  Savior  was  an 
event  of  the  past  half  century. 

We  passed  out  the  old  Roman  gate,  on  the  south  side 
of  the  city,  to  the  Church  of  St.  Paul,  where  the  apostle  is 
buried.  This  building  is  noted  for  its  fine  mosaics,  which 
represent  the  apostles  in  full  size,  and  so  perfect  is  the 
work  that  the  visitor  is  half  convinced  that  they  are 
paintings.  We  also  visited  the  obelisk  of  Rameses,  an 
immense  shaft  that  was  erected  in  Egypt  originally  by 
that  delightfully  obscure  ruler  who  is  supposed  to  have 
been  a  contemporary  of  Abraham.  Rameses  is  dead,  or 
•perhaps  he  would  enter  a  protest  against  the  manner  in 
whi(?h  the  civilization  of  the  present  is  despoiling  his 
country  of  its  monuments  to  provide  food  for  the  wonder 
of  gaping  millions,  most  of  Avhom  never  dreamed  of  his 
existence.  Who  knows  but  four  or  five  thousand  years 
hence  the  people,  the  rulers,  and  the  monuments  of  to-day 
will  be  remembered  and  looked  upon  with  equal  super- 
stitious awe  and  misty  tradition? 

At  the  close  of  our  first  day  in  the  Eternal  City  we 
drove  through  the  fashionable  boulevard,  and  rested  our 
weary  brains,  surfeited  by  the  history  and  traditions  of 
the  misty  past,  by  mingling  with  the  gay  throng  which 
crowds  the  thoroughfare.  Certainly  the  finest  turnouts 
in  the  world  are  to  be  seen  here.  It  is  a  vast  kaleido- 
scope of  unsurpassed  elegance.  I  felt  much  more  at  home 
among  the  elegant  horses,  fine   carriages,  and    beautiful 


340  WHAT  I  SAW, 

Indies  of  the  present  than  I  did  delving  among  the  mem- 
ories of  the  long  past. 

We  wandered  through  many  churches  and  studied  with 
all  the  interest  we  could  possibly  arouse,  the  numerous 
paintings  by  Raphael,  Michael  Angelo,  and  the  other  "old 
masters."  It  is  considered  the  proper  thing  to  go  into 
ecstasies  over  these  works  of  art.  Well,  I  shall  do  no 
such  thing.  If  they  represent  "  high'  art,"  and  I  suppose 
they  do,  I  am  free  to  admit  that  my  artistic  comprehen- 
sion is  not  of  sufficient  altitude  to  reach  them.  In  other 
words  they  are  entirely  too  "  high "  for  my  grasp.  I 
have  seen  paintings  by  American  amateurs  that  I  think 
much  superior.  The  "  conception  "  may  not  be  so  grand, 
the  "touch"  so  delicate,  the  chiar-oscuro  so  exquisite,  nor 
the  "  grouping "  so  fine,  but  they  looked  like  something, 
and  that  is  a  virtue  that  no  Angelo,  Raphael,  Correggio, 
or  Rubens  which  I  have  ever  seen  did.  Now,  good 
reader,  you  have  my  opinion  of  "high  art."  It  may  not 
be  valuable,  but  it  certainly  is  honest,  and  that  is  much 
more  than  can  be  said  of  most  of  the  oracular  disserta- 
tions of  critical  noodles  who  write  learnedly  and  mystic- 
ally, and  roll  their  testhetic  eyes  in  an  ecstasy  of  admiration 
at  the  mention  of  the  name  of  one  of  the  "  old  masters." 

On  our  second  day  in  Rome  we  went  first  to  the  prison 
of  St.  Paul,  a  very  formidable  building  of  a  dark  and 
ultra  forbidding  appearance.  We  were  furnished  each  a 
torch,  and  went  down  into  a  stone  vault  about  twenty  feet 
in  diameter,  with  an  arched  roof.  It  was  as  dark  as 
night.  We  passed  on  down  another  flight  of  steps  to  a 
similar  vault.  This  is  where  Peter  and  Paul  were  chained, 
and  the  very  post  is  yet  to  be  seen,  covered  with 

"  The  sacred  dust  of  twice  ten  hundred  years." 
Both  of  these  vaults  are  very  deep  down,  dark,  cold, 


Q 
O 

It' 

W 

a 


> 

O 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  341 

and  damp,  and  liow  any  one  could  manage  to  exist  in 
them  for  even  three  days  is  more  than  I  could  imagine. 
I  looked  around  for  some  relics  of  the  illustrious  prisoners, 
but  none  could  be  found.  There  are  no  charcoal  auto- 
graphs on  the  walls,  nor  are  they  ornamented  with  clip- 
pings from  illustrated  papers  of  the  day,  as  is  the  habit 
of  our  modern  prisoners.  It  may  not  be  necessary  for  me 
to  say  that  there  is  no  positive  evidence,  and  little  cir- 
cumstantial, that  Peter  and  Paul  ever  occupied  this  cell. 
But  it  would  be  rank  treason  to  intimate  a  doubt  to  a 
guide.  If  the  noble  Roman  who  conducted  me  around 
had  declared  that  the  Savior  was  crucified  in  the  Vatican 
I  would  have  meekly  accepted  his  statement  and  gazed 
with  all  the  necessary  awe-stricken  interest  on  the  spot. 
We  felt  glad  to  ascend  again  to  the  light  and  get  a  breath 
of  fresh  air,  a  commodity  that  is  not  superabundant  in 
Rome  even  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances. 

We  next  paid  our  respects  to  the  "  ruined  palaces  of  the 
Csesars,"  which  occupy  one  of  the  seven  hills  and  cover  an 
area  of  perhaps  sixty  or  eighty  acres.  They  are  of  great 
extent,  but,  as  Mark  Twain  said,  sadly  out  of  repair. 
They  are  in  no  way  as  attractive  as  those  of  Delhi.  We 
were  shown  one  building  that  tradition  and  the  guide 
(powerful  factors  in  estimating  the  antiquity  of  ruins)  say 
was  erected  by  Romulus,  the  founder  of  Rome.  This 
enterprising  young  man  drew  the  plan  of  the  city  754 
years  before  Christ,  but,  as  even  his  existence  is  largely 
legendary  if  not  wholly  mythical,  it  is  safe  to  assume  that 
the  story  of  his  erecting  this  structure,  or  any  other  build- 
ing in  Rome,  is  "another  one  of  the  guide's  lies." 

The  next  point  of  interest  which  we  visited  was  the 
catacombs,  those  vast  subterranean  vaults,  which  were 
used  primarily  as  a  place  for  the  deposit  of  the  dead,  and 
secondarily  by  the  ancient  Christians  as  places  of  worship, 


342  WHAT  I  SAW, 

where  they  could  hope  to  escape  their  persecutors.  We 
went  to  the  entrance  and,  securing  a  guide,  descended 
about  forty  or  fifty  steps,  and  were  within  the  celebrated 
catacombs  of  Rome.  We  lighted  torches  and  commenced 
the  walk  through  this  gloomy  charnel-house.  The  streets 
or  walks  are  narrow,  scarcely  ever  more  than  three  feet 
wide,  and  extend  in  every  direction,  a  total  distance,  it  is 
said,  of  six  hundred  miles.  I  have  placed  that  qualifying 
"it  is  said  "there  to  save  me  answering  in  the  future  for 
an  exaggeration,  or,  perhaps,  a  downright  falsehood.  The 
guide  said  so,  and  he  ought  to  know.  My  readers  must 
remember  that  guides  are  proverbial  truth-tellers,  the  very 
incarnation  of  reliability.  I  do  not  suppose  one  of  them 
would  deliberately  tell  a.  lie.  He  might  give  utterance  to 
a  falsehood  from  force  of  a  habit,  nurtured  from  boyhood, 
but  he  has  a  horror  of  lying  intentionally.  On  both  sides 
of  these  streets  are  niches  cut  out  for  the  reception  of  the 
body  of  some  defunct  Roman.  We  saw  a  few,  yet  in  a 
reasonable  state  of  preservation,  but  most  of  the  remains 
have  crumbled  into  dust.  I  had  read  so  much  of  getting 
lost  in  the  catacombs  that  we  were  nervously  apprehensive 
that  some  such  fate  might  befall  us.  Our  torches  burned 
low,  and  as  we  had  penetrated  a  long  distance,  we  re- 
quested our  guide  to  return  us  to  the  upper  world.  Our 
exit  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth  was  a  long  distance 
from  the  entrance.  We  were  glad  to  embrace  the' oppor- 
tunity to  go  in,  and  the  chance  to  get  out  was  equally 
welcome.  Dead  people  are  not  the  most  genial  compan- 
ions to  be  found,  even  if  they  be  the  participants  in  the 
former  glory  of  the  "mistress  of  the  world." 

"  Imperial  Csesar,  dead  and  turned  to  clay, 
Might  stop  a  hole  to  keep  the  wind  away," 

and,  though  history  does  not  record  an  instance  of  the 
bodies  of  defunct  patricians  being  used  as  "  chinking,"  yet 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  343 

they  have  been  laid  away  in  these  immense  vaults  to  serve 
an  equally  ignoble  and  scarcely  so  useful  a  purpose,  that 
of  providing  wonders  upon  which  the  curious  mind  may 
speculate.  I  stopped  for  a  moment  before  one  of  the 
most  ancient-appearing  receptacles,  in  which  the  body  of 
the  incumbent  had  mouldered  away  to  but  a  handful  of 
odorless  dust,  and  tried  to  picture  in  my  mind  his  career 
in  life.  Who  was  he?  When  did  he  live?  What  did 
he  do  ?  May  be  he  was  a  senator.  Perhaps  one  of  the 
plotters  against  the  life  of  "noble  Csesar."  Perchance  he 
followed  the  victorious  eagles,  and  participated  in  the  suc- 
cesses that  conferred  imperishable  glory  upon  the  Roman 
Empire.  It  is  possible  that  the  object  of  my  solicitude 
was  a  base  plebeian.  I  trust  not,  because  I  fixed  uj)  in  my 
mind  a  pleasant  little  romance  for  him,  and  I  hope  he  de- 
served it. 

It  was  near  sundown  when  we  emerged,  and  started  to 
return  in  our  carriage  over  the  Appian  Way.  This  road 
is  one  of  the  seemingly  imperishable  monuments  of  ancient 
Rome,  and  in  the  days  of  the  empire  was,  as  it  is  yet  to 
some  extent,  the  great  thoroughfare.  We  met  the  only 
child  of  the  king,  a  young  prince  of  fourteen,  who,  with 
his  attendants,  was  out  for  a  drive.  I  raised  my  hat,  and 
the  prince  returned  the  salutation  with  grace.  If  he 
should  become  the  king  of  Italy  (an  event  very  probable) 
and  I  should  want  an  office  under  him  (an  event  very 
improbable)  I  will  take  pleasure  in  reminding  him  of  my 
consideration. 

On  this  day  we  drove  perhaps  twenty  miles,  and  saw 
much  of  the  city.  The  next,  and  last,  was  devoted  almost 
exclusively  to  St.  Peter's — that  majestic  pile,  the  Mecca 
of  every  tourist.  Like  the  Taj  Mahal,  which,  by  the  way, 
it  does  not  approach  in  splendor,  I  am  at  a  loss  where  to 
begin  a  description  that  will  even  approximate  justice  to  the 


344  WHAT  I  SAW, 

subject,  and  perhaps  I  can  best  preserve  what  little  credit 
I  may  have  for  descriptive  talent  by  passing  liglitly  over 
it.  Rome  is  a  history  of  itself,  and  so  also,  I  might  say, 
St.  Peter's  is  a  world  in  itself.  From  the  pinnacle  of  the 
lofty  dome — the  most  elevated,  I  believe,  in  the  world — 
to  the  floor  of  the  vast  building,  it  is  a  continuous  source 
of  wonderment  and  object  of  admiration.  The  walls  are 
composed  largely  of  blocks  of  marble  from  the  ruins  of 
the  ancient  city.  For  hours  we  wandered  through  its 
naves  and  aisles,  penetrated  the  recesses  of  its  inner  chap- 
els, and  were  stricken  with  awe  at  its  immensity  as  a 
whole,  and  with  the  completeness  of  every  detail.  The 
first  impression  upon  the  beholder  is  that  of  a  great 
church.  By  this  I  mean  not  simply  a  large  building,  but 
that  every  detail  is  of  an  exaggerated  size,  even  the  cujjids 
upholding  the  vase  of  holy  water  being  stout,  muscular 
fellows,  over  six  feet  in  height.  This  same  idea  of  exag- 
gerated size  is  carried  through  every  part  of  the  structure, 
and  is  the  basis  of  the  trite  remark  that  St.  Peter's  is  a 
monstrosity.  The  corner-stone  of  the  church  was  laid  in 
1406,  and  the  structure  was  not  finally  completed  until 
1614,  a  period  of  two  hundred  and  eight  years.  It  is  said 
to  occupy  the  site  of  St.  Peter's  burial  place,  and  near 
the  scene  of  his  martyrdom.  The  original  plan  was  that 
of  a  Greek  cross,  but  this  was  afterward  changed  to 
that  of  the  Latin  cross.  The  building  is  six  hundred 
and  thirteen  feet  in  length,  and  four  hundred  and  fifty 
wide  across  the  transepts.  The  arch  of  the  nave  is  one 
hundred  and  fifty-two  feet  high,  and  ninety  wide.  Fancy, 
my  dear  Bucyrians,  a  doorway  through  which  the  court- 
house of  Crawford  County  could  be  passed  readily,  and  in 
fact,  a  building  twice  as  wide  and  with  a  tower  nearly  two 
times  as  lofty  as  that  which  graces  the  county's  temple  of 
justice.     The  diameter  of  the  dome  is  one  hundred  and 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  345 

ninety-five  feet  and  a  half;  from  the  pavement  to  the  base 
of  the  lantern  is  four  hundred  and  five  feet ;  and  to  the 
apex  of  the  cross,  four  hundred  and  thirty-four  feet  six 
inches.  I  have  given  these  detailed  dimensions  to  enable 
my  readers  to  form  an  intelligent  idea  of  the  immensity 
of  this,  the  largest  church  building  in  the  world.  We  did 
not  ascend  into  tiie  lantern,  as  we  might  have  done,  but 
understand  it  is  large  enough  to  comfortably  accommodate 
twenty  men. 

The  more  I  see  of  the  antiquities  the  more  I  am  lost 
in  wonder.  Visit,  for  instance,  the  Vatican,  and  spend  a 
day  wandering  among  the  statues  sculptured  more  than 
two  thousand  years  ago.  All,  or  nearly  all,  have  been 
dug  from  the  ruins  of  Rome.  Another  peculiarity  in  this 
ancient  city  is  the  fact  that  buried  deep  under  the  present 
are  other  cities,  the  accumulation  of  countless  ages  and  suc- 
cessions of  ruins.  One  church,  dedicated  to  some  saintly 
old  fellow,  whose  name  has  slipped  my  memory,  is  built 
upon  the  ruins  of  another  church  edifice,  and  that  in  turn 
rests  upon  the  ruins  of  a  pagan  temple.  I  use  the  term 
"  countless  ages "  advisedly,  because  history  utterly  fails 
to  even  approximately  designate  the  period  of  the  founda- 
tion of  Rome.  We  have  all,  as  children  at  home  and 
students  at  school,  read  the  pleasant  little  fiction  of  Rom- 
ulus and  Remus,  those  "  babes  in  the  woods,"  who  were 
suckled  by  a  wolf,  but  there  is  no  pretense  that  such  per- 
sons ever  existed  outside  the  mythology  of  the  ancients. 
As  well  might  it  be  claimed  that  Venus,  Jupiter,  Minerva, 
and  the  other  heathen  deities  really  lived  and  moved  as 
that  Romulus  and  Remus  possessed  a  veritable  existence. 

Elsewhere  I  have  spoken  of  a  species  of  idolatry  that 
exists  among  the  Catholic  pilgrims  to  Rome,  and  another 
instance  came  within  our  observation  at  St.  Peter's.  There 
is  a  bronze  statue  of  the  not  always  amiable  coadjutor  of 


346  WHAT  I  SAW, 

the  Savior,  and  it  is  the  custom  of  faithful  pilgrims  to 
kneel  and  kiss  the  great  toe  of  the  right  foot,  which  is 
slightly  advanced,  seemingly  for  that  purpose.  This  toe 
has  been  kissed  for  so  many  centuries  that  positively  it  is 
worn  nearly  away,  and  soon  the  representative  of  the 
majesty  and  goodness  of  Heaven's  gate  keeper  will  have 
to  be  supplied  with  a  new  toe.  This  may  be  Christianity; 
it  may  be  a  true  and  acceptable  way  of  worshiping  the 
living  God,  but  I  may  be  excused  if  I,  with  due  humility, 
file  an  excejjtion  to  it. 

It  seems  to  me,  even  after  looking  through  these  pages 
of  manuscript,  that  I  have  really  said  very  little  of  Rome. 
But  little  can  be  said  of  the  city,  its  manifold  points  of 
attraction,  in  less  than  a  volume.  Our  imj^ressions  of  the 
Rome  of  to-day  are  on  the  whole  favorable.  It  presents 
to  the  eye  an  Incongruous  combination  of  ancient  ruins 
and  modern  habitations,  stately  palaces  surrounded  by 
wretched  hovels,  yet  there  is  an  indefinable  something 
about  the  very  air  that  charms  the  visitor,  and  causes  him 
to  long  for  the  opportunity  to  study  it  at  his  leisure.  To 
the  student  of  Roman  history  the  city  has  an  irresistible 
fascination. 

After  five  days  spent  in  the  city,  we  leave  to-morrow 
for  Pisa,  Florence,  Venice,  Milan,  Stuttgart,  Heidelberg, 
Cologne,  Holland,  and  London,  leaving  Paris  for  our  next 
trip  to  Europe. 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  347 


XXVIII. 

Through  Italy  to  Germany — Pisa,  Florence,  Venice,  Milan, 
Munich,  and  Heidelberg — Italian  Hotel  Keepers  and  their 
Dark  Ways — Contrast  between  Italy  and  Germany — How 
OUR  Deutsche  Brethren  Drink  Beer. 

Heidelberg,  Germany,  February  21,  1882. 

We  spent  five  days  in  Rome,  and  suppose  that  during 
that  time  we  saw  about  one-fiftieth  of  the  interesting 
sights  that  are  there  to  be  seen.  The  tourist  might  re- 
main in  Rome  for  six  months,  and  find  every  hour  profit- 
ably and  pleasantly  occupied.  Had  I  the  time  and  the 
money  to  spare,  there  is  no  place  of  the  many  I  have  been 
where  I  would  rather  spend  five  or  six  months  than  in 
Rome.  But  life  is  too  short,  and  there  are  too  many 
Romes  to  be  seen,  too  many  places  that  present  attractions 
that  are  to  be  looked  at  and  enjoyed. 

We  left  on  the  train  for  a  two  hundred  mile  run  to 
Pisa,  and  just  as  we  were  leaving  we  received  the  news 
that  the  infamous  Guiteau  had  received  his  deserts,  or  at 
least  justice  had  taken  an  important  step  toward  securing 
the  end  that  has  been  so  merited  and  so  mysteriously  de- 
layed. When  I  first  heard  it  I  gave  expression  to  feel- 
ings of  joyous  satisfaction  in  a  manner  that  undoubtedly 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  mercurial  Italians.  I  ad- 
mit that  I  shouted,  threw  up  my  hat,  and  in  other  ways 
created  the  impression  that  I  was  an  escaped  lunatic. 
Salutha  endeavored  to  restrain  me,  and  threatened  to  have 
me  taken  to  Washington  and  passed  through  an  equally 


348  WHAT  I  SAW, 

tedious  investigation  regarding  my  sanity.  All  around 
the  world,  even  among  the  half-civilized  Hindoos,  we 
have  been  constantly  abashed  by  the  covert  insinuations 
and  openly  declared  opinions  that  we  as  a  nation  were  dis- 
gracing ourselves  and  building  up  basis  for  severe  and 
lasting  reflections  upon  America,  by  the  judicial  farce  that 
has  been  played  in  Washington.  If  the  creature  is  hung 
by  the  time  we  get  home  we  will  be  nearer  satisfied. 

Our  route  lay  through  the  country  near  to  the  sea- 
shore on  the  west,  for  some  two  hundred  miles,  until  we 
reach  Pisa.  The  country  through  which  we  passed  is 
devoted  largely  to  wheat,  which  looks  well,  and  is  much 
further  advanced  than  at  home  in  the  same  season.  Not- 
withstanding it  was  but  the  middle  of  February,  the  fruit 
trees  were  in  bloom,  and  the  general  appearance  was  such 
as  we  usually  have  in  the  States  in  April.  Nevertheless, 
there  were  severe  frosts  every  night.  I  suppose  the  vege- 
tation is  saved  by  the  great  dryness  of  the  atmosphere. 
Rome  is  in  latitude  almost  identical  with  that  of  Bucyrus, 
and  why  there  should  be  the  difference  in  the  temper- 
ature is  a  problem  in  meteorology  beyond  my  grasp. 

On  Sunday  morning,  February  18th,  we  waked  up  to 
find  ourselves  in  the  beautiful  city  of  Pisa.  The  town  is 
noted  almost  wholly  for  the  leaning  tower.  Of  course  we 
visited  it  first,  and  exhibited  probably  the  usual  amount 
of  wonder  why  the  concern  does  not  tumble  down.  It  is 
constructed  of  yellowish  marble,  seven  stories  in  height, 
each  surrounded  with  white  marble  pillars.  It  varies 
seventeen  feet  from  the  perpendicular.  The  entire  height 
is  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight  feet.  As  I  have  said, 
every  body  wonders  why  it  does  not  fall.  I  do  not.  The 
reason  is  readily  seen.  It  does  not  lean  far  enough,  or  to 
express  the  idea  in  more  obscure  language,  the  line  of 
perpendicularity  does  not  fall  without  the  circumference 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  349 

of  the  apex.  The  history  of  this  remarkable  pile  would 
doubtless  be  interesting  to  my  readers,  but  I  must  con- 
fess that  if  I  was  ever  acquainted  with  it  it  has  slipped  my 
memory. 

The  city  of  Pisa  possesses  some  architectural  monu- 
ments of  interest,  such  as  the  usual  variety  of  elegant 
churches,  cathedrals,  etc.,  all  dedicated  to  some  saintly 
defunct.  The  river  Arno  passes  through  the  city,  and  is 
spanned  by  a  number  of  bridges,  the  principal  one  of 
W'hich  is  built  of  pure  white  marble.  The  University  of 
Pisa  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  Italy.  It  has  four  colleges, 
with  forty  professors,  a  library,  a  botanical  garden,  and 
an  observatory.  On  the  square  surrounding  it  are  many 
public  buildings,  built  for  the  most  part  of  marble,  and 
of  a  very  elegant  appearance.  The  mildness  of  the  cli- 
mate makes  of  Pisa  a  health  resort  of  considerable  pop- 
ularity, and  the  celebi'ated  baths  in  the  city  attract  visitors 
from  a  great  distance.  The  foundation  of  the  city  dates 
back  several  centuries  before  the  Christian  era,  but  it  was 
not  until  the  tenth  century  that  it  assumed  any  com- 
mercial importance.  We  visited  the  cathedral,  a  very 
fine  structure,  but  tame  when  compared  with  St.  Peter's 
in  Rome,  or  some  of  the  temples,  mosques,  and  tombs  of 
India.  We  have  both  decided  that  no  more  cathedrals 
shall  be  shown  to  us.  In  St.  Peter's  and  the  Taj  Mahal 
at  Agra,  we  have  seen  the  great  architectural  wonders  of 
the  world,  and  we  are  not  willing  that  our  impressions  of 
grandeur  shall  be  spoiled  by  interpolating  any  thing  in- 
ferior to  the  standard  thus  established. 

On  the  following  day  we  left  for  Florence.  We  passed 
along  the  banks  of  the  Arno,  and  over  a  well  cultivated 
country.  The  city  of  Florence  we  found  to  well  sustain 
its  exalted  reputation  for  the  beautiful  in  painting,  stat- 
uary, and  mosaics.     As  much  can  not,  we  think,  be  said 


350  WHAT  I  SAW, 

for  the  general  appearance  of  the  city.  Possibly  we  have 
been  spoiled  and  our  sense  of  appreciativeness  deadened 
by  six  mouths  of  wandering  amid  the  wonders  of  the 
world.  Our  explorations  were  conducted  mostly  on  foot, 
a  means  of  locomotion  which  possesses  advantages  not  to 
be  overlooked  in  a  strange  city.  We  found  much  to  ad- 
mire, both  in  the  city  itself  and  in  its  surroundings,  but 
nothing  which  justifies  the  enthusiastic  declaration  that  no 
other  city  equals  Florence  in  elegance.  Florence  is  lo- 
cated in  a  valley,  surrounded  by  the  Apennine  mountains, 
and  the  river  Arno  divides  the  city.  There  are  a  great 
number  of  fine  edifices  and  squares,  usually  adorned  with 
statues  or  fountains.  There  are  no  less  than  one  hundred 
and  seventy  churches,  eighty-nine  convents,  an  indefinite 
number  of  palaces,  twelve  hospitals,  and  about  a  dozen 
theaters.  Some  of  these  edifices  are  described  as  "the 
finest  in  Europe."  That  is  an  expressive  and  compre- 
hensive term  at  first  glance,  but  it  really  amounts  to  very 
little.  The  number  of  palaces,  churches,  and  other  build- 
ings that  have  been  by  travelers  described  as  "  the  finest 
in  Europe"  can  not  readily  be  numbered  on  the  fingers. 
Palaces  in  Florence  do  not  mean  the  residences  of  royalty. 
Private  dwellings  are  so  called  when  their  extent  is 
deemed  sufficient  to  justify  the  use  of  the  extravagant 
expression.  These  palaces  are  universally  ancient  piles 
of  granite,  of  a  square^  cumbersome,  solid  appearing  form, 
fronting  from  two  to  three  hundred  feet,  of  considerable 
but  not  proportionate  height,  flat  roof,  and  heavy  project- 
ing cornice.  The  idea  of  the  architects  seems  to  have  been 
solidity  at  the  expense  of  elegance.  There  is  a  gloomi- 
ness, a  dark,  forbidding  air  about  these  massive  buildings 
that  is  oppressive  to  the  mind  of  the  tourist.  The  visitor 
can  not  disabuse  his  senses  of  the  impression  that  it  is  a 
prison,  and  his  eyes  wander  involuntarily  in  search  of  the 


CO 

o 

> 

w 
o 

H 


TO 

< 

H 

H 

Q 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  351 

iron  doors  and  triple  barred  windows,  while  the  ears  are 
constantly  on  the  alert  for  the  sound  of  clanking  chains 
and  the  voices  of  prisoners. 

No  Italian  city  but  has  its  ancient  pile,  devoted  to 
the  general  worship  of  God,  and  the  special  adoration  of 
some  self-sacrificing  old  fellow  who  fancied  a  virtue  in  an 
ascetical  detestation  of  the  means  of  enjoyment  provided 
by  nature,  and  sought  happiness  in  the  sacrifice  of  every 
human  aim,  in  the  endeavor  to  reach  the  degree  of  fancied 
perfection  that  had  been  placed,  by  the  fanatical  teachings 
of  his  church,  as  the  goal  of  all  goodness.  As  a  result, 
some  kind  old  pope  has  canonized  him,  and  thencefor- 
ward he  has  been  known  as  a  "  saint."  Florence  has  one 
of  these,  with  the  only  and  remarkable  exception  that  it 
is  not  named  for  any  saint.  It  is  known  as  the  "  Duomo," 
and  is  a  magnificent  structure,  about  five  hundred  feet  in 
length  and  nearly  four  hundred  in  height  to  the  top  of 
the  cross.  It  is  constructed  of  brick,  veneered  as  it  were, 
with  thin  slabs  of  party-colored  marble,  set  on  edge.  It 
has,  therefore,  the  same  appearance  as  if  built  solidly  of 
marble.  The  building  was  two  hundred  years  in  con- 
struction, having  been  begun  in  1226,  and  completed  in 
1426.  Of  the  number  of  bridges  which  span  the  Arno,  is 
one  particularly  noticeable,  being  built  of  white  marble, 
and  Avith  a  design  which,  for  combined  beauty  and  solidity, 
has  never  been  excelled  by  more  modern  architects. 

We  remained  in  Florence  but  one  day,  and  then  passed 
on  to  Bologna.  The  road  ascends  the  Apennine  Mount- 
ains to  the  height  of  twenty-one  hundred  feet.  There 
are  on  the  road  no  less  than  forty-three  tunnels.  Passing 
the  summit,  we  descended  on  the  eastern  side  to  Bologna. 
We  stopped  only  for  dinner,  and  sped  onward  to  Venice, 
over  a  flat  country,  where  the  industry  of  the  agricultural 
population  is  devoted  almost  wholly  to  the  cultivation  of 


352  WHAT  I  SAW, 

grapes  and  olives.  The  farmers  were  plowing  for  the 
Spring  crop,  and  I  noticed  that  the  furrows  were  very 
deep.  The  soil  has  an  apf)earance  of  exceeding  richness. 
I  was  struck  by  the  substantial  appearance  of  the  farm 
houses  and  barns.  All  are  either  stone  or  brick,  and  for 
the  whole  distance  of  two  hundred  miles,  not  a  wooden 
building  is  to  be  seen. 

There  is  little  new  that  any  one  can  write  of  Venice. 
It  has  been  so  often  and  so  minutely  described  that  it  has 
become  as  familiar  as  an  old  and  oft-told  story.  The  first 
impression  upon  the  visitor  is  that  of  an  overflowed  city, 
where  the  waters  have  pressed  through  the  streets  and 
surprised  the  inhabitants,  who  are  being  rapidly  trans- 
ferred to  a  place  of  safety.  Venice  is  built  on  one  hun- 
dred and  seven  islands,  and  almost  literally  in  the  water, 
as  the  site  was  originally  but  salt-water  lagoons,  and 
every  building  of  the  city,  from  the  elegant  church  of  St. 
Mark's  and  the  stately  palace  of  the  Doges  to  the  hovels 
of  the  lazarettos,  has  for  its  foundation  piles  driven  deep 
into  the  soft  and  water-soaked  soil.  The  islands  upon 
which  the  city  is  built  are  separated  by  narrow  channels. 
These  are  utilized  as  thoroughfares,  and  while  they  are 
termed  canals,  and  really  are  such  in  the  literal  sense  of 
the  word,  yet  are  not,  as  might  be  supposed,  of  artificial 
construction.  Some  of  these  islands  are  much  larger  than 
others,  and  have  short  streets  or  alleys  of  solid  earth,  but 
as  a  general  thing  the  islands  contain  but  a  solid  block 
of  buildings,  whose  only  means  of  communication  is  by 
water.  With  the  exception  of  the  Grand  Canal,  about  a 
hundred  feet  wide,  the  water  thoroughfares  are  narrow. 
Boats,  known  as  gondolas,  serve  the  universal  purpose  of 
vehicles,  as  horses  and  carriages  in  Venice  are  unknown. 
The  circumference  of  the  city  is  about  eight  miles,  and 
the   number   of  canals   consequently  very  great.      Being 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  353 

natural  conduits,  there  is  no  regularity  in  the  system  of 
watery  streets,  and  not  even  the  ancient  cow-paths  which 
tradition  tells  us  formed  the  basis  of  the  plan  of  Boston, 
excel  them  in  irregular  intricacy.  The  Grand  Canal  is, 
however,  a  spacious  and  handsome  thoroughfare.  It  is 
spanned  by  but  one  bridge,  the  picturesque  and  shapely 
Rialto,  constructed  of  pure  marble.  The  celebrated  Bridge 
of  Sighs  spans  the  canal  called  the  Rio  Palazzo,  and  is  so 
named  for  the  reason  that  it  connects  the  old  j)rison  with 
the  Doges'  palace,  and  across  it  were  conducted  the  pris- 
oners to  receive  their  sentence  and  its  execution,  the  one 
follow^ing  immediately  after  the  other. 

Venice  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  finest  cities  in  Europe. 
For  centuries  it  was  the  capital  of  the  first  maritime  and 
commercial  state  in  the  world,  of  immense  wealth  and 
commanding  influence.  Consequently  it  contains  propor- 
tionately a  larger  number  of  public  buildings  than  any 
other  European  city.  Among  the  national  edifices  must 
first  be  mentioned  that  stupendous  building,  the  pride 
and  glory  of  Venice,  the  diical  palace  and  cathedral  of 
St.  Mark.  It  forms  three  sides  of  a  square,  and  is  the 
grandest  and  most  stately  quarter  of  the  city.  The  square 
of  St.  Mark,  with  its  arcades,  its  fine  and  elegant  shops 
and  cafes,  the  vast  grandeur  of  its  palace  and  its  mag- 
nificent cathedral,  presents  a  picture  of  beauty  that  is 
scarcely  surpassed  elsewhere.  The  foundation  of  Venice 
was  laid  in  421,  as  a  place  of  refuge  during  the  invasion 
of  Italy  by  Attila,  but  the  prosperity  and  power  of  the 
republic  dates  from  four  hundred  years  later.  The  jealous 
rivalry  of  Genoa  resulted  in  a  war  which  continued  for 
nearly  a  century,  ending  with  the  absorption  of  the  former 
city  by  France,  in  1396.  The  greater  part  of  the  follow- 
ing century  was  devoted  to  a  war  with  Turkey,  in  which 

the  Venetians  were   badly  worsted,  losing  many  of  their 

23 


354  WHA  T  I  SA  W, 

provinces  in  Greece,  and  the  Ionian  Islands.  The  dec- 
adence of  Venice  dates  from  the  discovery  of  the  route 
to  India  by  way  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  early  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century  it  became  an  easy  prey  to  Napoleon's  scheme  for 
the  formation  of  a  Cisalpine  republic.  Upon  the  down- 
fall of  the  great  Corsican,  in  1815,  and  the  administration 
upon  his  estate  by  the  powers  of  Europe,  Venice  fell  to 
the  lot  of  Austria,  by  which  power  it  was  held  until  the 
close  of  the  brief  but  sanguinary  struggle  between  Austria 
and  France  and  Italy,  in  1866,  when  it  was  ceded  to  the 
latter  power. 

"We  found  the  atmosphere  rather  sharp  for  the  keenest 
appreciation  of  a  gondola  ride,  and  soon  abandoned  it  for 
a  walk  through  the  narrow  streets  on  the  islands.  We 
found  as  fine  stores  and  as  handsome  a  display  of  goods 
as  can  be  seen  anywhere.  Primitiveness  is  one  distin- 
guishing feature  of  Venice,  though,  perhaps,  not  to  a 
greater  extent  than  some  other  European  cities.  We  saw, 
for  instance,  mechanics  manufacturing  nails  by  hand.  In 
reply  to  my  remark,  that  in  America  we  made  a  better 
article  at  the  rate  of  more  than  sixty  a  minute,  the  work- 
man gazed  upon  me  with  a  look  of  mingled  surprise  and 
pity,  and  I  have  a  well  defined  idea  that  he  considered  me 
a  harmless  lunatic  who  had  escaped  from  restraint.  In 
the  manufacture  of  fancy  glassware  and  mosaics,  however, 
the  Venetians  are  far  in  advance  of  America.  The  latter 
are  particularly  fine.  I  am  told  that  the  entire  ceiling  of 
St.  Mark's,  representing  the  creation,  the  flood,  the  apos- 
tles, etc.,  is  mosaic.  I  found  it  impossible  to  disabuse  my 
mind  of  the  impression  that  the  scenes  are  paintings. 

Venice  claims  the  honor  of  the  first  establishment  of 
a  banking  house  in  Europe.  I  had  the  satisfaction  of 
looking  in  upon  the  building,  and  speculating  upon  the 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  355 

vast  system  of  finance  which  has  grown  from  this  humble 
beginning. 

We  spent  two  days  in  Venice,  and  left  for  Milan,  a 
distance  of  one  hundred  and  ten  miles  to  the  west.  We 
took  the  morning  train  and  passed  over  the  plains  of 
Venetia  to  Lombardy,  with  but  little  ascent  for  the  entire 
distance.  The  country  is  devoted  largely  to  wheat  and 
grapes.  The  soil  seems  very  productive,  and  the  former 
crop  looks  well,  being  apparently  as  far  advanced  as  with 
us  in  April.  Not  a  fence  is  to  be  seen  during  the  entire 
distance.  There  are  no  natural  forests,  but  all  the  dirt 
roads  are  lined  with  trees,  forming  a  grateful  shade.  This 
planting  of  trees  prevails,  I  have  noticed,  in  Jaj^an  and 
India  as  well  as  Italy. 

Milan  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  cities  in  this  historical 
Italy.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  founded  by  the  Gauls, 
and  was  annexed  to  the  Roman  dominions  about  two  cen- 
turies before  the  birth  of  Christ.  In  the  fourth  century 
it  held  the  rank  of  sixth  city  in  the  Roman  Empire.  It 
is  said  by  travelers  to  be  one  of  the  finest  and  most  pleas- 
ing cities  in  Europe.  It  is  circular  in  form  and  surrounded 
by  a  wall  ten  miles  in  circumference.  Like  all  old  cities, 
however,  its  beauty  is  ^i*eatly  marred  by  being  very 
irregularly  laid  out.  The  most  remarkable  of  its  many 
fine  buildings  is  the  cathedral,  built  of  white  marble,  with 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five  spires,  each  capped  by  a 
statue.  It  is  an  imposing  structure,  of  the  Gothic  style 
of  architectere,  four  hundred  and  eighty-five  feet  long, 
two  hundred  and  fifty-two  wide,  with  a  dome  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty-five  feet  high.  Included  in  the  adornment 
are  no  less  than  four  thousand  five  hundred  statues.  The 
city  surpasses  any  we  have  seen  in  Italy  for  fine  streets 
and  stores.  We  remained  two  days,  and  improved  the 
excellent  opportunity  for  making  some  needed  purchases. 


356  WHA  T  I  SA  W, 

Early  in  the  afternoon  we  left  the  city  for  Verona,  our 
route  passing  over  the  Lombardy  phiins,  skirting  the  base 
of  the  Alps,  on  which  the  snow  line  appeared  uncomfort- 
ably low,  and  caused  numerous  chills  to  jjass  over  us, 
combined  with  mental  observations  suspiciously  like  a 
longing  for  the  perennial  warmth  of  India.  We  arrived 
at  the  beautiful  little  city  of  Verona,  where  we  lay  for 
three  hours,  waiting  for  a  train  on  the  northern  road, 
which  would  transfer  us  in  a  few  hours  into  the  dominions 
of  Kaiser  Franz  Josef. 

We  meandered  extensively  through  Italy.  Making 
our  entry  at  Brindisi,  on  the  south-east,  we  passed  to  the 
west,  thence  up  the  west  coast,  and  again  through  to  the 
north-east,  and  then  to  the  north-west,  half  through  again, 
and  once  more  back  to  the  northern  central  part,  from 
whence  we  proceeded  northward  through  Austria. 

Our  experiences  in  Italy  would  have  been  wholly  pleas- 
ant, but  for  one  serious  obstacle  to  complete  happiness — 
the  hotels.  Some  of  them  are  good,  their  accommodations 
more  than  passable,  and  the  attendance  common  to  good. 
But  the  landlords  are  the  most  complete,  unblushing,  un- 
deviating,  unmitigated  scoundrels  to  be  found  elsewhere 
outside  of — well,  a  much  warm«rr  place  than  Italy.  Every 
attache  of  a  hotel  in  the  Italian  dominions,  from  the  pro- 
prietor down  to  the  most  insignificant  menial,  is  a  liar  of 
monumental  proportions,  who  seeks  to  prey  upon  the  trav- 
eler, and  treats  with  flippant  contempt  his  demand  for  ful- 
fillment of  a  verbal  contract.  Unless  a  traveler  in  Italy 
submits  quietly  to  being  robbed,  his  experience  is  a  con- 
stant warfare.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  bandits  who  for 
years  made  travel  in  Italy  unsafe  have  forsaken  the  mount- 
ains and  taken  possession  of  the  hotels.  This,  understand 
me,  is  not  the  plaintive  whine  of  a  victim.  The  aggre- 
gate of  the  extortion  which  I  have  suiFered  in  Italy  will 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  357 

not  exceed  five  dollars,  but  the  war  has  been  exceedingly 
trying  to  my  nerves.  For  the  time  being  I  almost  re- 
gretted my  conscientious  scruples  against  profanity.  Per- 
haps a  chapter  or  two  of  vigorous  and  well-rounded  Buck- 
eye expletives  would  have  had  a  terrorizing  effect  upon 
the  robbers,  as  I  know  they  would  have  relieved  the 
pressure  upon  my  feelings,  which  was  kept  continually 
near  the  danger  jioint. 

I  felt  a  positive  relief  when  we  had  crossed  the  fron- 
tier into  Austria.  There  always  Avas  a  warm  corner  in 
my  heart  for  the  Germans.  Not  an  attempt  has  been 
made  since  we  crossed  the  line  of  Italy  to  rob  us  by  ex- 
tortionate demands.  AVhen  a  German  landlord  tells  you 
what  your  accommodations  will  be  and  what  you  will 
have  to  j)ay  for  them,  you  can  depend  upon  his  word  as 
fully  as  upon  your  own.  This  is  only  one  regard  in  which 
the  Germans  are  superior  to  the  Italians.  There  are  a 
thousand  others,  every  one  of  which  are  noticeable  before 
you  have  spent  a  day  in  either  Austria  or  Germany  proper. 

We  left  Verona  and  passed  the  frontier  at  the  little 
town  of  Alia,  where  our  baggage  was  inspected  by  the 
customs  officers.  This  was  a  small  matter,  and  did  not 
detain  us  long.  We  passed  through  the  Brener  pass  of 
the  Alps,  on  up  to  Innsbruck,  crossing  a  narrow  neck  of 
the  Austrian  Empire.  Innsbruck  is  a  handsome  little 
German  city,  but  we  did  not  remain  there  long,  and  our 
route  was  continued  northward.  The  scenery  through 
this  part  of  Austria  reminds  the  tourist  very  much  of  the 
Pennsylvania  road  from  Pittsburg  to  Altoona.  At  Inns- 
bruck we  struck  the  river  Inn,  and  passed  north-east- 
wardly  down  the  valley  to  Kurfstein,  and  soon  after 
crossed  the  Austrian  frontier  into  Bavaria.  Here  our 
baggage  was  again  inspected,  this  time  by  the  customs 
officers  of  Kaiser  Wilhelm.    We  suffered  not  the  slightest 


358  WHAT  I  SAW, 

inconvenience.  We  experienced  a  feeling  of  genuine  re- 
lief when  the  familiar  "  sweet  German  accent "  fell  upon 
our  ears.  The  German  is  the  first  language  we  have 
heard,  except  English,  in  our  travels,  of  which  we  could 
comprehend  a  word.  We  arrived  at  Munich  about  dark, 
having  been  on  the  road  from  Milan  since  the  morning 
of  the  previous  day.  This  is  more  rapid  traveling  than 
we  have  been  used  to.  We  felt  some  satisfaction  that, 
after  months  of  wandering,  we  were  finally  within  twelve 
days  of  New  York  and  fourteen  of  home.  At  Munich 
we  were  quartered  in  a  hotel  in  the  heart  of  the  city, 
and  on  the  morning  following  our  arrival  started  out  to 
look  at  the  novelties  of  the  thoroughly  German  city.  We 
found  many  customs  similar  to  those  that  prevail  among 
the  worthy  German  immigrants  of  our  own  country. 

Munich,  as  my  readers  are  doubtless  aware,  is  the  cap- 
ital of  the  former  kingdom  and  now  German  dependency 
of  Bavaria.  The  population  is  about  two  hundred  thou- 
sand, and  the  city  is  noted,  among  many  other  things,  for 
the  manufacture,  and  consumption  as  well,  of  lager  beer. 
Here  beer  drinking  is  not  looked  upon  as  it  is  in  America. 
In  Germany,  and  particularly  in  Munich,  lager  is  not 
only  a  national  but  a  universal  beverage.  The  best  as 
well  as  the  worst  elements  of  society  frequent  the  beer 
halls  and  partake  of  the  foaming  liquid  in  seemingly  lim- 
itless quantities.  It  is  nothing  unusual  to  see  the  tod- 
dling babe  reach  for  its  mug,  and  in  the  presence  of,  and 
aided  by,  its  parents,  drain  it  to  the  bottom.  For  some 
reason,  the  beer  does  not  seem  to  have  the  demoralizing 
physical,  mental,  and  moral  effect  that  the  beverage  in 
America  does.  Here  you  hardly  ever  see  a  drunken  man, 
and  broils  such  as  are  common  in  American  beer  resorts 
are  almost  unknown  among  the  imbibers  in  Germany. 
The  Germans  are  certainly  the  happiest  of  people,  social 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  359 

in  their  habits,  earnest  in  their  friendships,  and  convivial 
in  their  customs.  The  family  relations  are  almost  uni- 
versally pleasant,  and  in  most  cases  you  will  find  in  the 
evening  resorts  the  jolly  burgher  surrounded  by  his  fam- 
ily, or  forming  part  of  a  group  of  families,  as  pleasant 
and  care-free  a  gathering  as  can  be  found.  No  spirituous 
liquors  are  drunk.  Another  practice  strikes  the  American 
as  peculiar.  Such  a  custom  as  "treating,"  that  pernicious 
habit  that  prevails  in  America,  is  unknown  in  Germany. 
Every  man  drinks  just  as  much  as  he  wants  and  no  more, 
and  pays  for  it  himself.  The  Germans  take  the  only  sen- 
sible view  of  this  question.  A  proposition  to  purchase  a 
German  a  hat  or  a  coat  would  not  be  more  ofiensive  than 
a  suggestion  to  pay  for  his  beer.  He  would  think  you 
supposed  he  had  no  money,  and  would  resent  promptly 
the  implied  intimation  that  he  was  a  beggar. 

The  principal  buildings  of  Munich  are  the  cathedral, 
the  new  palace,  the  Jesuit  church,  and  the  royal  palace. 
Located  in  Caroline  Square  is  an  obelisk,  about  one  hun- 
dred feet  high,  formed  for  the  most  part  of  cannon  cap- 
tured by  the  victorious  Bavarians  in  the  war  with  Russia 
in  1812.  The  city  is  noted  for  its  fine  galleries  of  paint- 
ings and  sculpture,  which  are  said  to  be  unexcelled  in 
Europe.  The  University  of  Munich  has  a  world-wide 
celebrity,  scarcely  inferior  to  that  of  Heidelberg  and 
Prague.  Its  library  contains  two  hundred  thousand  vol- 
umes. The  Royal  Library,  instituted  more  than  three 
hundred  years  ago,  contains  more  than  four  hundred  thou- 
sand books  and  thirty  thousand  manuscripts.  Munich  is 
not  usually  spoken  of  as  an  old  city,  yet  its  founding  dates 
back  to  the  year  962.  Here,  in  Europe,  however,  they 
do  not  consider  any  thing  worthy  to  be  catalogued  with 
the  antiquities  unless  it  flourished  before  the  Christian 
era.     The  city  has,  like  most  other  European  continental 


360  WHAT  I  SAW, 

towns,  experienced  many  of  the  vicissitudes  of  war.  In 
the  fifteenth  century  it  became  the  capital  of  Bavaria; 
was  captured  by  Gustavus  II.  of  Sweden  in  1232,  by  the 
Austrians  in  1704,  1731,  and  1743,  and  by  the  French 
in  1800,  from  which  time  until  1813  Bavaria  remained  a 
dependency  of  France. 

As  I  have  said,  we  found  many  things,  not  only  in 
Munich,  but  elsewhere  in  Germany,  to  remind  us  of  our 
German  friends  at  home.  For  instance,  at  the  former 
place  we  feasted  upon  kraut  and  spec,  and  for  beds  we 
had  those  delicious  couches  of  down  which  woo  sleep  by 
the  cozlness  of  their  comfort.  As  our  blood  continues 
thin,  and  the  mercury  at  thirty  degrees  indicates  bitterly 
cold  weather  for  us,  the  enormous  German  feather  beds 
are  a  luxury  which  w^e  fully  appreciate.  As  a  country 
through  which  to  make  a  wedding  tour,  however,  Ger- 
many has  its  drawbacks,  and  I  here  insert  a  warning  to 
my  newly  married  young  friends  to  avoid  it.  The  reason 
is,  the  beds  are  all  single.  Another  thing  recommends 
Germany  beyond  any  other  country.  It  is  the  very  para- 
dise of  coffee  drinkers.  It  is  the  first  place  in  our  travels 
where  we  have  been  able  to  procure  a  really  good  cup  of 
this  delicious  beverage.  Even  in  Ceylon,  where  the  berry 
is  indigenous,  the  article  placed  upon  the  table  tastes  like 
a  decoction  of  putrescent  mud  and  a  very  inferior  quality 
of  water.  In  short,  the  Americans  and  the  Germans  are 
the  only  people  who  make  good  coffee,  and  drinkable  tea  is 
unknown  outside  of  Japan. 

I  met  at  the  breakfast  table  in  Munich  an  American 
from  Scranton,  Penn.,  who  was  regaling  every  English- 
speaking  guest  with  boasts  of  his  travels  through  Europe. 
I  waited  patiently  for  a  lull  in  his  flow  of  words,  which 
was  a  long  time  coming,  and  then,  in  as  nonchalant  a 
manner  as  possible,  I  spoke  of  the  more  interesting  sights 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  361 

in  Japan,  China,  Ceylon,  and  India.  I  hope  to  be  par- 
doned for  the  semblance  of  egotism  in  my  remarks,  but 
the  temptation  was  too  great  for  me  to  resist,  and  I  was 
more  than  a  little  amused  by  the  surprise  expressed  on  his 
face  and  the  sudden  drooping  of  his  elevated  feathers. 
He  had  many  questions  to  ask,  and  we  realized  that  our 
extended  wanderings  had  merited  us  a  considerable  prom- 
inence among  travelers. 

We  remained  in  Munich  over  Sunday,  and  the  follow- 
ing day  left  for  Heidelberg.  Traveling  in  Germany  is  a 
veritable  "  picnic,"  as  we  can  speak  enough  of  the  lan- 
guage to  make  ourselves  understood.  For  six  months  we 
have  depended  on  signs,  and,  had  it  not  been  for  our 
mutual  companionship,  I  believe  we  would  have  half  for- 
gotten how  to  talk. 

Munich  we  found  a  really  beautiful  city,  with  fine 
stone  business  houses,  the  streets  clean  and  tidy,  and  the 
stores  comparing  favorably  with  London  or  New  York. 
We  left  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  in  the  midst  of 
a  blinding  snow  storm,  and  passed  through  Augsburg, 
Ulm,  Bruchsal,  and  Stuttgart,  at  none  of  which,  however, 
we  tarried.  The  country  is  a  fine  agricultural  region, 
much  more  carefully  cultivated  than  is  the  land  in  Amer- 
ica, for  the  same  reason,  undoubtedly,  that  the  Japanese 
farms  are  so  thoroughly  tilled — the  large  population  gives 
the  people  a  choice  only  between  studied  cultivation  of 
every  foot  of  land  and  want.  The  wheat  looks  well,  but  the 
great  demand  for  beer  leads  to  the  more  general  raising  of 
hops  and  barley.  There  is  not  a  fence  to  be  seen  in  all 
Germany,  except  that  protecting  the  railroads.  The  train 
made  good  time,  and  at  four  P.  M.  we  were  in  Hei- 
delberg, where  we  are  stopping  at  the  same  hotel  I  pat- 
ronized during  my  travels  in  Germany  twenty  years 
ago.     During  the  interval  the  city  seems  to  have  greatly 


362  Tf^^r  I,S.1TT^, 

improved.  We  find  the  hotel  accommodations  very  good, 
but  we  take  our  meals  at  a  restaurant,  on  the  score  of 
economy. 

This  morning  an  amusing  incident  occurred  that  illus- 
trates the  disadvantages  under  Avhich  travelers  labor  who 
do  not  fully  understand  the  language.  We  thought  our 
knowledge  of  the  German  was  sufficient  for  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances, but  we  do  n't  think  so  any  more.  On  the 
occasion  mentioned  we  desired  for  our  matutinal  repast 
coifec  and  boiled  eggs.  Such  I  ordered,  or  at  least  I 
thought  I  said  for  the  eggs  to  be  boiled,  but  I  guess  I 
did  n't.  Any  way,  the  waiter  brought  the  coffee,  together 
with  a  cup  of  cold  water  and  raw  eggs.  For  the  life  of 
me  I  could  not  think  of  the  German  for  "  boiled "  or  for 
hot  water,  and  we  were  for  a  time,  to  use  a  provincialism, 
"  up  a  stump."  After  much  orthoepical  cogitation  and  a 
deal  of  gesticulation  and  other  efforts  at  making  myself 
understood,  I  got  those  eggs  boiled,  long  after  our  appe- 
tites should  have  been  satisfied.  But  I  have  it  down  fine 
now,  and  the  next  time  I  want  boiled  eggs  I  will  know 
how  to  order  them. 

Early  this  morning,  despite  the  damp,  muggy  weather, 
we  started  out  for  a  tramp  to  the  old  castle  on  the  hill. 
The  ruin  of  this  old  palace  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque 
in  Europe,  and  is  the  first  of  many  things  which  I  felt  an 
interest  in  after  having  seen  once.  It  seemed  like  the  re- 
newal of  an  old  acquaintance.  In  one  of  the  cellars  of 
the  old  palace  or  Schloss  is  the  celebrated  Heidelberg  tun, 
that  immense  cask  concerning  whose  size  so  many  apocry- 
phal stories  have  been  told.  It  is,  however,  a  monster  of 
the  cooper's  art,  and  is  said  to  have  a  capacity  of  two  hun- 
dred and  eighty-three  thousand  and  two  hundred  bottles 
of  wine.  It  was  constructed  in  1751,  and  has  been  empty 
since   1769.     We  wandered  all   through  and  around  the 


AND  HO W  I  SAW  IT.  363 

castle,  which  has  been  written  and  talked  about  for  hun- 
dreds of  years.  We  noticed  written  over  the  stone  doors 
names  whose  sound  was  strikingly  home-like  and  familiar. 
From  hence  to  Cologne  the  route  will  be  the  same 
over  which  I  traveled  a  score  of  years  since,  but  that 
through  Holland  will  be  new.  The  weather  here  is  about 
like  April  at  home,  and  they  tell  me  they  have  had  a  very 
mild  winter.  From  here  we  will  go  down  the  Rhine  to 
Holland,  where  we  will  spend  a  few  days  before  crossing 
the  Channel  to  England. 


364  WHAT  I  SAW, 


XXIX. 

Germany,  Holland,  London — Tpie  Trip  down  the  Rhine — A 
Short  Tour  through  Holland — The  Author  in  London — The 
Tower — Westminster  Abbey,  The  Museum,  Etc. — Why  he 
DID  n't  attend  the  Queen's  Reception. 

London,  March  2,  1882. 

Here  we  can  almost  say  with  the  melancholy  Prince 

of  Denmark, 

"  I  am  native  here, 
And  to  the  manner  born." 

After  months  of  wandering,  during  which  we  have 
seen  many  of  the  different  peoples  of  the  world,  we  have 
finally  reached  that  point  in  our  travels  where  we  feel 
almost  that  we  are  one  of  the  people.  The  voices  of  the 
crowds  that  surge  past  us  in  the  street  have  a  familiar 
sound,  and  we  have  cast  aside  that  sign  language  which 
for  so  long  has  served  a  good  but  never  satisfactory  pur- 
pose. When  we  desire  to  inquire  concerning  the  best 
facilities  for  reaching  a  certain  point,  or  wish  to  make 
purchases,  or  order  our  dinners,  we  use  plain  and  copious 
English,  with  the  assurance  that  our  inquiries  will  be  un- 
derstood. It  is  a  satisfaction  which  we  feel  and  fully 
appreciate. 

The  next  morning  after  the  conclusion  of  my  last  letter 
we  left  Heidelberg  for  Mentz,  the  route  lying  over  as  fine 
a  farming  country,  perhaps,  as  can  be  found  in  the  world. 
It  seemed  strange  that  there  should  be  no  fence  except 
that    guarding    the    track    of   the    railroad.     We    passed 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  365 

through  Darmstadt  and  other  cities  and  towns  of  greater 
or  less  importance,  but  having  visited  each  of  them  dur- 
ing my  brief  tour  through  Europe  some  years  since,  I  did 
not  feel  in  them  the  interest  that  was  aroused  by  places 
whose  attractions  were  wholly  new.  German  cities  and 
towns  do  not  change  rapidly,  and  I  see  many  things  that 
have  a  familiar  appearance.  I  was  younger  then,  and 
reveled  in  the  midst  of  surroundings  for  which  I  have 
little  taste  now. 

We  have  made  it  a  point  during  our  entire  tour,  so 
far  as  circumstances  would  permit,  to  travel  only  in  day- 
time. The  object  is  twofold.  First,  that  nothing  within 
the  range  of  our  observation  shall  escape  us,  and,  second, 
that  we  may  secure  each  night  the  rest  and  recuperation 
that  fits  us  for  the  often  laborious  sight-seeing  of  the  fol- 
lowing day.  This  plan  we  have  carried  out  in  Germany, 
and  we  flatter  ourselves  that  but  little  in  which  we  could 
feel  an  interest  on  our  line  of  travel  has  escaped  our  notice. 
There  is  one  point,  however,  to  which  I  desire  to  direct 
the  attention  of  my  readers,  which  may  serve,  perhaps,  as 
an  apology  for  failing  to  note  many  things  in  Europe  that 
would,  perhaps,  be  of  interest  to  them.  We  have  been 
constantly  traveling  for  six  months,  the  scenes  of  each  day 
(^hanging  as  rapidly  and  as  completely  as  the  views  in  a 
kaleidoscope.  We  feel,  not  strictly  a  sense  of  weariness, 
but  are  unable  to  arouse  the  same  degree  of  enthusiasm 
over  the  sights  of  Europe  that,  perhaps,  would  have  come 
readily  to  us  had  it  been  first  on  our  programme  of  for- 
eign travel. 

At  Mentz  we  were  quartered  in  a  genuine  German 
hotel,  surrounded  by  all  the  cozy  comforts  for  which  Ger- 
man hostelries  are  distinguished.  Such  a  supper  as  that 
which  was  served  to  us  soon  after  our  arrival  would  rouse 
the  envy  of  a  gourmand.      The  light  wines  of  Germany 


366  WHAT  I  SAW, 

are  noted  everywhere,  and  we  are  prepared  to  add  our 
testimony  to  the  universal  commendation. 

The  more  I  see  of  the  German  people  the  more  favor- 
ably am  I  impressed  with  them.  They  are  genial,  genteel, 
accommodating,  companionable — and  clean.  The  personal 
cleanliness  of  the  people  of  all  classes,  and  the  universal 
neatness  of  the  hotels  and  private  houses,  present  such  a 
striking  contrast  to  other  peoples  whom  we  have  visited 
that  my  readers  will  please  not  become  weary  of  my  reit- 
erated expressions  of  admiration. 

This  trip  around  the  world,  in  addition  to  the  pleas- 
ures derived  from  viewing  the  many  wonders  of  travel, 
has  had  another  beneficial  effect.  It  has  tended  greatly  to 
liberalize  our  ideas,  to  make  us  more  tolerant  of  the  theo- 
ries and  practices  of  those  who  hold  conceptions  of  "the 
problem  of  life"  differing  from  our  own.  There  is  an 
appearance  of  sincerity  even  in  the  idolatry  of  the  Bud- 
dhists and  Brahmins  that,  while  it  may  not  deserve  the 
respect  of  those  who  boast  a  more  complete  education  and 
a  higher  civilization,  yet  it  impresses  the  visitor  with  the 
conviction  that  they  act  in  full  accord  with  the  light  they 
have  been  given.  Every  word  and  every  action  of  a 
Brahmin,  Buddhist,  and  Mohammedan  tends  to  convince 
the  most  skeptical  that  he  firmly  believes  the  theory  of  his 
religion  and  consistently  observes  the  practices.  Whether 
the  theory  and  practice  of  all  Christians  are  equally  con- 
sistent, the  experience  of  most  of  my  readers  will  enable 
them  to  determine  for  themselves.  From  our  stand-point 
these  people  are  wrong,  radically  wrong,  in  both  their  be- 
lief and  their  mode  of  worship.  To  the  educated  Christian 
mind,  their  manner  of  giving  expression  to  their  venera- 
tion is  not  only  absurd  but  extremely  distasteful,  but  the 
query  still  remains,  are  they  not,  after  all,  better  Moham- 
medans,  Buddhists,   and    ^rahmius    than    some    unctions 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  367 

professors  are  Christians?  They  firmly  and  conscien- 
tiously believe  they  are  right,  and  the  problem  of  whether 
they  are  to  be  punished  eternally  for  sins  committed  in 
ignorance  is  one  which  many  persons  may  theorize  upon 
weariedly  and  assume  that  they  have  solved,  but  the  real 
solution  must  await  the  decree  of  a  just  and  merciful 
Providence,  "  who  doeth  all  things  well."  Casting  aside, 
however,  the  eternal  blessings  which  I,  and  I  presume  all 
of  my  readers,  agree  are  to  be  derived  from  the  teachings 
of  the  religion  of  Christ,  and  looking  upon  it  wholly  in  a 
temporal  sense,  all  must  agree  that  Christianity  is  produc- 
tive of  great  good.  The  teachings  of  Buddha,  Brahma, 
Mohammed,  and  Zoroaster  may,  as  they  undoubtedly  do, 
seek  to  inculcate  principles  of  virtue  and  equity  as  between 
man  and  man,  but  nowhere  can  be  found  as  lucid,  as  be- 
neficent a  principle  of  morality  as  is  contained  ill  the 
theory  and  example  of  the  meek  and  lowly  Nazarene. 
The  experience  of  nearly  two  thousand  years  has  shown 
that  Christianity  and  civilization  go  hand  in  hand.  Where 
the  teachings  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  are  accepted  as 
the  basis  of  religious  belief  and  instruction,  there  is  found 
the  greatest  progress  and  the  fullest  prosperity.  To  no 
one  is  this  palpable  fact  more  apparent  than  to  one  who 
has  made  a  circuit  of  the  globe  and  seen  the  different  peo- 
ples in  their  every-day  life. 

Having  unintentionally  wandered  on  into  this  homily 
upon  a  trite  and  worn  subject,  I  had  almost  forgotten  that 
my  duty  to  my  readers  demands  rather  an  account  of  the 
scenes  and  incidents  of  travel. 

Mayence,  or  Mentz,  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  cities 
of  Germany,  having  been  established  first  as  a  military 
position  by  the  Romans.  It  has  not  escaped  the  misfor- 
tunes of  war,  and  during  the  past  two  hundred  years  has 
been  successively  occupied  by  the  Swedes,  the  Prussians, 


368  WHAT  I  SAW, 

and  the  French.  In  1707  it  was  formally  ceded  to  the 
duchy  of  Hesse  Darmstadt,  and  so  still  remains,  possessing 
a  nominal  independence,  but  really 'a  part  of  the  great 
German  Empire.  Mayence  is  mainly  distinguished  as 
having  been  the  cradle  of  the  art  of  printing.  Here 
Gutenberg  lived,  and  here  he  gave  to  the  world  that  great- 
est of  all  arts.  The  city  is  surrounded  by  a  wall,  and 
defended  by  an  outer  chain  of  fortifications.  It  is  not 
distinguished  for  elegant  public  buildings,  but  the  ancient 
electoral  palace,  now  used  as  a  custom  house,  the  palace 
of  the  old  Teuton  knights,  now  the  residence  of  the  gov- 
ernor, and  the  churches  of  St,  Stephen  and  St.  Ignatius 
are  worthy  of  attention.  To  these  may  be  added  the  co- 
lossal bronze  statue  of  Gutenberg  and  the  statue  of  Schil- 
ler. Mayence  is,  next  to  Cologne,  the  principal  depot  for 
Rhenish  produce  in  Germany.  The  population  is  about 
sixty  thousand. 

We  left  Mayence  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  on 
board  a  small  steamer,  so  diminutive  as  to  remind  us  of 
the  life-boats  on  the  ocean  steamers  of  the  East.  The 
trip  down  the  Rhine  has  been  celebrated  in  song  and 
story  for  countless  years,  but  to  us  the  scenery  seemed  as 
fresh  and  replete  with  interest  almost  as  would  have  been 
an  excursion  through  an  unexplored  region.  One  may 
read  extensively  and  carefully  of  the  scenes  and  incidents 
of  travel,  yet  when  they  are  brought  within  his  own  ex- 
perience they  have  a  freshness  that  is  little  impaired  by 
the  knowledge  he  has  secured  from  the  writings  of  others. 
Of  the  Rhine  I  can  only  say  that  it  is  beautiful  almost 
beyond  comparison,  finding  perhaps  its  only  parallel  in 
our  own  Hudson  from  Poughkeepsie  to  Albany.  To  the 
traveler  who  stands  upon  the  deck  of  a  Rhine  steamer  the 
scene  is  like  unto  a  massive  panorama,  a  succession  of 
startling  surprises,  where  the  interest  in  a  passing  view 


AND  now  I  SAW  IT.  369 

does  not  flag  until  it  is  succeeded  by  one  of  perhaps  even 
more  entrancing  beauty.  Nearly  every  crag  or  cliff  is 
surmounted  by  the  ruins  of  a  tower  or  castle,  silent  re- 
minders of  the  feudal  age,  when  petty  potentates,  lords  of 
limited  territory,  warred  with  each  other  and  found  the 
greatest  safety  in  castles  that  were  nearly  inaccessible. 
The  first  wonder  in  the  mind  of  the  beholder  is  how 
these  immense  buildings  were  constructed  in  such  seem- 
ingly wholly  unapproachable  points,  which  it  would  seem 
that  only  the  birds  of  the  air  could  reach.  AVhere  pos- 
sible, the  mountains  which  border  the  river  through  almost 
its  entire  length  have  their  sides  terraced  and  planted  in 
vineyards,  another  evidence  of  the  tireless  energy  and 
frugality  of  the  Germans.  The  most  attractive  part  of 
the  river  is  between  Mayence  and  Coblenz,  it  appearing 
there  much  like  a  succession  of  lakes,  surrounded  by  lofty 
mountains,  grand  in  their  appearance,  but  mere  miniatures 
when  compared  with  the  majestic  Alps  which  border  the 
Upper  Rhine. 

We  were  fortunate  in  making  the  Rhine  trip  by  boat, 
instead  of  the  cars,  as  I  did  in  my  previous  visit  to 
Europe.  Then  I  saw  little  of  the  beauty  of  the  stream; 
now  nothing  escaped  our  observation.  The  captain  of  the 
boat  was  one  of  those  jolly  Germans  who  is  never  happy 
unless  every  one  with  whom  he  is  thrown  in  contact  is  in 
the  same  felicitous  condition.  "VVe  were  the  only  foreign- 
ers on  board,  and,  as  a  consequence,  received  many  favors 
not  only  from  the  officers  but  the  passengers.  What  social 
merits  can  be  named  that  are  not  perforce  possessed  by 
the  people  in  a  country  where  good,  cheering  wine  is 
cheaper  than  water?  I  have  never  had  the  reputation  of 
being  a  "wine  bibber,"  but  must  confess  that  my  heart 
warms  in  unison  with  my  stomach  over  the  light  wines  of 
Germany.     It  is  cheap,  cheaper  than  coffee,  and  composes 

24 


370  WHAT  I  SAW, 

the  standard  drink  of  the  good  people  of  Hhenish  Ger- 
many, largely  displacing  the  much  vaunted  lager  beer,  and 
producing  a  feeling  of  comforting  exhilaration. 

It  was  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  when  we  arrived 
at  Cologne,  and  breathed  the  atmosphere  freighted  with 
the  "  distinct  and  several  smells."  We  were  conducted  to 
a  hotel  near  the  river,  which  wc  found  cozy  and  in  every 
way  comfortable,  where  our  renovated  German  served  the 
purpose  of  making  our  limited  wants  known.  Our  appe- 
tites were  not  ravenous,  and  in  response  to  the  waiter's 
query  of  what  we  desired  for  supper  we  simply  ordered 
"  wein  unt  brod."  A  bottle  of  finely  flavored  sweet  wine 
and  a  loaf  of  the  softest  and  purest  white  bread  were 
placed  before  us — a  feast  for  a  king ;  that  is,  provided 
said  king  was  not  very  hungry.  The  landlord  and  his 
good  wife  were  disposed  to  be  talkative,  and  exhibited  a 
degree  of  inquisitiveness  that  would  have  covered  a  Yan- 
kee Boniface  with  glory,  I  endeavored  to  be  as  accom- 
modating as  my  limited  stock  of  German  would  permit. 
In  answering  their  question  as  to  whence  we  had  been 
traveling,  I  took  my  hat  and  passing  my  hand  around  the 
brim  indicated  that  we  had  been  clear  around  the  world, 
to  Japan,  China,  and  India,  and  explained  that  we  were 
thus  far  on  our  return  to  New  York.  If  a  winged  angel 
had  dropped  down  between  them  the  surprise  of  the 
worthy  German  couple  could  not  have  been  greater. 
They  seemed  to  look  upon  your  correspondent  as  a  verit- 
able phenomenon.  True  to  the  frugal  German  nature, 
their  wonder  took  the  finance  form,  and  they  spoke  simul- 
taneously :  "  Mein  Gott  in  Himmel !  wae  fael  dich  sae  ga- 
cost?"  My  reply  that  the  outlay  was  fully  fifteen  thou- 
sand marks  added  much  to  their  astonishment.  Such  a 
sum  seemed  a  fabulous  fortune  to  these  simple-minded 
Germans.     We  chatted  quite  pleasantly,  I  endeavoring  to 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  371 

add   to   their   information,   and   at   the   same   time   to  my 
limited  stock  of  German. 

The  next  day  was  devoted  to  a  ramble  through  the 
streets  of  Cologne.  AVe  went  first  to  the  great  cathedral, 
finished  within  the  last  few  years,  after  having  been  more 
than  six  hundred  and  fifty  in  building.  It  is  a  grand  and 
imposing  structure,  albeit  somewhat  incongruous  in  its 
appearance,  owing  to  the  different  architectural  ideas  that 
found  expression  in  its  building.  When  this  is  examined, 
the  traveler  has  seen  all  that  is  really  attractive  in  the 
city,  unless  one  choses  to  delve  among  the  ancient  tomes 
of  the  extensive  libraries,  and  study  the  history  of  what 
is  one  of  the  oldest  cities  of  Germany.  The  city  is  built 
along  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  something  in  the  form  of 
a  crescent,  is  strongly  fortified,  and  is  connected  by  an 
elegant  bridge  with  the  town  of  Dutz,  on  the  opposite 
shore.  Cologne  has  been  noted  for  untold  years  for  its 
unsavory  smells,  and  was  the  subject  of  one  of  Coleridge's 
most  pointed  epigrams: 

"  The  river  Ehine,  it  is  well  known, 
Doth  wash  your  city  of  Cologne  ; 
But  tell  me,  nymphs,  what  power  divine 
Shall  henceforth  wash  the  river  Rhine  ?" 

It  might  be  too  much  for  me  to  say  that  the  atmo- 
sphere of  Cologne  is  impregnated  with  ultra  disagreeable 
smells,  but  certain  it  is  that  a  more  peasing  aroma  can 
be  found  than  prevails  in  the  vicinity  of  some  of  its  chem- 
ical manufactories.  As  the  name  indicates,  the  city  is 
largely  noted  for  the  manufacture  of  Cologne  water.  We, 
like  others,  bought  a  bottle  of  it,  just  so  that  we  can  boast 
of  its  genuineness,  though  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt 
as  fine  an  article  that  never  saw  Cologne  can  be  pur- 
chased of  any  druggist  at  home.  The  dog-carts  in  the 
streets  attracted  our  attention.     These  dogs  are  large  mus- 


372  WHAT  I  SAW, 

cular  fellows,  who  drag  through  the  streets  with  apparent 
ease  carts  heavily  laden  with  produce.  The  carts  are  the 
favorite  vehicles  of  the  peasantry,  and  large  quantities  of 
produce  are  brought  in  thcra  from  the  country. 

We  remained  but  one  day  and  two  nights  at  Cologne, 
and  were  off  early  in  the  morning  for  Amsterdam  and  other 
})arts  of  Holland.  It  was  with  unfeigned  regret  that  we 
departed  from  Germany.  We  will  probably  never  see  it 
again,  as  on  our  next  trip  to  Europe  we  will  go  through 
Paris  and  Genoa ;  thence  direct  to  Egypt,  via  Brindisi ; 
then  to  the  Holy  Land ;  and  return  through  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea  direct  to  New  York. 

From  Cologne  to  Amsterdam  we  passed  throngh  a 
country  as  level  apparently  as  if  it  had  been  graded  by 
a  civil  engineer.  The  first  town  we  came  to  in  Holland 
was  Svenden,  just  across  the  lino,  where  we  passed  the 
usual  custom-house  inspection.  This  was,  however,  largely 
a  matter  of  form,  and  did  not  detain  us  but  a  short  time. 
From  this  point  to  Amsterdam  the  country  is  a  dead 
level,  with  alluvial  soil,  cut  here  and  there  with  dykes  or 
ditches,  which  seem  to  form  the  boundaries  of  farms  or 
districts,  and  well  serve  the  purpose  of  fences.  A  good 
deal  of  the  land  is  very  poor,  the  soil  being  of  a  dead 
sand  formation,  and  covered  with  scrub  pine.  Portions, 
however,  are  quite  rich,  and  such  is  carefully  and  exhaust- 
ively cultivated,  th«  thrifty  Dutch  well  knowing  the  value 
of  thorough  tilling.  The  farm  houses  and  barns  are  under 
the  same  roof,  yet  there  is  about  all  an  appearance  of  neat 
and  inviting  cleanliness. 

Amsterdam  we  found  a  quaint  old  city,  interspersed 
with  many  canals,  and  also  good  streets,  with  four  and 
five  story  brick  and  stone  business  houses,  covered  with 
red  tile,  which  is  throughout  Holland  the  universal  sub- 
stitute for  shingles.     There  is  little  in  the  city  to  attract 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  373 

the  attention  of  the  traveler,  beyond  the  canals  and  fine 
wide  streets.  The  origin  of  Amsterdam  was  not  unlike 
that  of  A^enice,  which  it  resembles  to  a  very  limited  ex- 
tent. The  site  was  formerly  a  salt  marsh,  and  the  city  is 
built  upon  no  less  than  ninety  islands,  which  communicate 
by  about  three  hundred  bridges.  As  in  Venice,  the  build- 
ings are  constructed  on  piles,  driven  through  the  soft  soil 
a  distance  of  fifty  feet  to  the  harder  formation  beneath. 
In  walking  the  streets  and  observing  the  canals,  filled 
almost  to  overflowing,  one  can  not  dispel  the  impression 
that  the  city  is  liable  at  any  moment  to  suffer  from  an 
inundation.  Yet  this  seeming  superabundance  of  water  is 
a  valuable  means  of  defense  to  the  city.  The  bed  of  the 
Amstel,  or  river,  is  provided  with  sluice-gates,  which  open 
allow  the  water  to  flow  through  the  channels  in  the  city, 
but  closed  would  in  a  few  hours  flood  the  surrounding 
country. 

During  the  seventeenth  century,  when  the  Dutch  dis- 
puted the  rule  of  the  sea  with  the  Spaniard  and  English, 
Amsterdam  was  the  metropolis  of  the  commercial  world. 
The  growth  of  commerce  in  England  caused  her  to  retire 
from  that  proud  position,  but  she  still  remains  a  place  of 
great  commercial  importance,  and  is  to-day  the  wealthiest 
city  of  its  size  in  the  world.  The  population  is  about 
three  hundred  thousand — as  busy  and  as  energetic  a  com- 
munity as  can  be  found  on  earth.  There  is  little  of  the 
hurry  or  bustle  which  we  see  in  New  York  or  Chicago, 
but  instead,  an  appearance  of  confidence  and  solidity  which 
can  not  fail  to  favorably  impress  the  visitor.  The  city  is 
divided  into  two  unequal  parts,  connected  by  a  magnificent 
bridge  six  hundred  and  ten  feet  long,  and  seventy  wide. 
This  viaduct  is  a  grand  specimen  of  engineering.  The 
superstructure  rests  upon  thirty-five  arches,  through  some 
of  which  the  tallest  masts  of  ships  pass  wdth  ease. 


374  WHAT  I  SAW, 

Leaving  Amsterdam  we  found  the  country  intervening 
before  Rotterdam  was  reached  but  a  repetition  of  that 
from  the  German  line  to  Amsterdam.  There  are,  perhaps, 
a  few  more  canals,  and  a  greater  number  of  dikes  and 
ditches ;  but  the  flat  country,  neat  houses,  well  cultivated 
farms,  and  frequency  of  gaunt-armed  windmills,  grew 
monotonous.  It  has  nowhere  been  my  fortune,  unless 
upon  the  prairies  of  Illinois  and  Iowa,  to  travel  through 
a  land  that  presented  fewer  features  of  variety  than  Hol- 
land. The  train  whisks  through  one  farm,  with  its  quaint 
appearing  dwelling  and  stable  combined  under  one  roof, 
and  omnipresent  windmill,  and  enters  another  almost  pre- 
cisely like  it.  We  passed  through  Haarlem,  Delph,  and 
many  small  villages,  and  reached  Rotterdam  at  noon. 
Holland  could  all  be  seen  in  a  week,  and  is  well  worth 
seeing  once,  but,  as  I  have  said,  soon  becomes  monotonous. 

Rotterdam  we  found  intrenched  with  numerous  canals, 
and  provided  with  good  but  mainly  narrow  streets.  The 
day  we  spent  there  was  Sunday,  and  we  were  struck  with 
the  great  respect  that  was  every  where  shown  the  day. 
It  was  as  a  revelation  to  us ;  we  felt  thankful  that  through 
the  kindness  of  Providence  we  had  been  permitted  to  once 
more  reach  a  Christian  land.  All  the  business  houses 
were  closed,  and  there  was  no  evidence  apparent  that 
the  phlegmatic  Dutch  have  yet  learned  the  back  door 
scheme  that  is  so  popular  in  American  cities.  Our  hotel 
fronted  on  a  street  and  in  the  rear  opened  upon  a  canal. 
We  found  the  accommodations  not  so  good  as  in  Germany, 
yet  every  thing  was  as  neat  and  clean  as  they  could  be 
made.  One  could  eat  off  the  floor  and  still  feel  an  assur- 
ance that  his  food  was  clean. 

Rotterdam  is,  probably,  more  than  any  other  city  in 
Holland,  cut  up  by  canals,  one  section  of  the  city  being 
so  divided  that  these  water  ways  provide  almost  the  only 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  375 

means  of  communication.  They  are  crossed  at  intervals  by 
bridges.  One  feature  adds  much  to  the  appearance  of  the 
city.  The  canals  are  nearly  everywhere  bordered  with  trees. 
This  gives  a  novel  and  attractive  look.  The  houses  of 
Rotterdam  are  apparently  constructed  with  a  view  to  con- 
venience rather  than  elegance.  They  vary  from  two  or 
three  to  six  stories  in  height,  and  are  of  as  many  differ- 
ent styles  of  architecture  as  could  be  conceived.  Appar- 
ently each  builder  had  his  own  distinct  idea  of  architec- 
ture, and  followed  it  to  the  letter. 

Our  stay  in  Rotterdam  was  brief,  and  we  sailed  at  six 
P.  M.  for  Harwich,  England,  a  short  trip  of  but  eleven 
hours,  bidding  farewell  to  the  continent  of  Europe,  which 
we  had  traversed  from  south  to  north,  greeting  the  ease- 
loving  Italians  at  Briudisi,  cultivating  the  genial  and 
companionable  Germans  in  Bavaria  and  the  Rhenish 
provinces,  and  making  adieus  to  the  earnest  but  phleg- 
matic Dutch,  in  Rotterdam.  We  found  the  North  Sea 
quite  rough,  but  the  experiences  of  travel  have  trans- 
formed us  into  staunch  sailors,  and  we  laughed  at  the 
waves  and  tried  to  convince  ourselves  that  we  enjoyed  the 
pitching  and  rolling  of  the  vessel.  This  sea  is,  I  believe, 
in  a  constant  state  of  uneasiness,  and  usually  causes  a 
sympathetic  feeling  of  disturbance  in  the  minds  (and 
stomachs)  of  the  ship's  passengers.  However  brave  we 
may  have  been,  it  was  with  a  feeling  of  relief  that  we 
viewed  from  the  deck,  at  an  early  hour  the  next  morning, 
the  cliffs  of  "Merrie  England."  The  landing  was  made 
at  seven  o'clock.  Harwich  is  an  inconsequential  place, 
seldom  heard  of  in  America,  and  owes  Avhat  little  import- 
ance it  possesses  to  its  position  as  the  nearest  port  to 
Holland  and  Belgium,  and  its  excellent  harbor.  The 
harbor  is  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  rivers  Stour  and 
Orwell,  diminutive  streams  in   themselves,  but  emptying 


376  WHAT  I  SAW, 

into  a  commodious  estuary  of  the  sea.  We  took  the  train 
at  once  for  London  and  keenly  enjoyed  the  short  ride. 

Now,  my  good  friends,  what  can  I  write  of  London 
that  will  interest  you?  The  great  city  is  not  by  any 
means  devoid  of  objects  of  interest,  but  the  daily  reader  is, 
or  should  be,  as  fully  acquainted  with  them  as  I  am  or 
can  become  during  my  short  stay.  Had  I  the  time,  I 
might  employ  what  little  descriptive  talent  I  possess  in 
telling  you  of  the  Tower,  its  history  and  its  legends;  the 
British  Museum  and  its  endless  collection  of  curiosities; 
the  Buckingham  Palace;  the  Parliament  House;  West- 
minster Abbey;  St.  Paul's  Cathedral;  and  so  on,  almost 
without  limit;  but,  after  all,  would  I  be  telling  you  much 
that  you  do  not  already  know?  Would  it  not  be  to  you 
like  the  repetition  of  an  old  story  ? 

On  the  principle  that  business  should  always  have  pre- 
cedence of  pleasure,  my  first  visit  was  to  the  office  of 
Cook  &  Co.,  under  whose  auspices  we  have  traveled  from 
San  Francisco.  I  was  anxious  to  learn  how  they  were 
prepared  to  arrange  with  us  for  the  loss  of  a  large  part 
of  our  tour,  that  through  Egypt,  Turkey,  and  the  Holy 
Land.  They  unhesitatingly  refunded  me  one  thousand 
two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  of  the  sum  we  had  paid 
them.  This  rebate  was  very  welcome,  of  course,  but  I 
can  truthfully  say  that  to-day  I  would  rather  be  delving 
among  the  ruins  of  ancient  Karnak,  Memphis,  or  Thebes, 
or  familiarizing  myself  with  the  scenes  of  the  Holy  Land, 
than  treading  the  streets  of  London.  At  the  office  of 
Cook  &  Co.  we  were  informed  that  to  this  day  no  passen- 
gers from  India  are  allowed  to  land  in  Egypt. 

We  met  an  old  friend  in  London.  It  was  our  family 
trunk!  From  Japan  we  shipped  it  ahead  of  us  to  China, 
and  then  again  to  Bombay,  where  we  overhauled  it  in 
about   three   months.      Once   more   we   forwarded   it,  this 


AXD  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  377 

time  to  London,  not  knowing  just  when  we  would  see  it 
again.  To-day  I  got  it  out  of  bond,  and  it  really  had  the 
appearance  of  an  old  acquaintance.  The  entire  shipment 
cost  me  the  munificent  sum  of  two  dollars.  I  wish  I 
could  travel  half  as  cheaply. 

Naturally  we  longed  for  the  glimpse  of  a  familiar  face 
and  the  grasp  of  a  friendly  hand,  and  we  were  not  long 
in  seeking  the  whereabouts  of  Mr.  Kratz,  who  has  charge 
of  the  European  branch  of  the  Bucyrus  house  of  M.  Deal 
&  Co.  We  found  him  alone  in  his  office  at  No.  67  Mark 
Lane,  and  from  him  received  the  first  news  from  home 
since  leaving  India.  We  spent  one  night  with  the  family 
since  we  have  been  in  London,  and  I  think  it  not  too  much 
to  say  that  few  evenings  during  our  somewhat  extended 
lives  have  been  more  pleasantly  passed.  It  was  after 
1  o'clock  when  tired  nature  asserted  itself,  and  we  retired 
to  our  beds,  Bucyrus  friends  and  interests  were  discussed, 
and  the  home  events  of  the  past  six  months  detailed  for 
our  benefit.  We  were  sorry  to  learn  that  the  relentless 
hand  of  death  has  been  busy  during  our  absence,  and  that 
there  will  be  more  than  one  vacancy  in  the  circle  of 
friends  to  greet  us  upon  our  return.  Home  events  seem 
to  succeed  each  other  more  rapidly  when  one  is  absent, 
and  the  summary  so  kindly  given  by  our  friend  Kratz 
seemed  to  us  like  the  history  of  more  than  a  year.  I  was 
pleased  to  learn  from  Mr.  K.  that  he  is  building  up  among 
these  "blarsted  Britishers"  what  will  erelong  prove  an 
extensive  and  profitable  business.  He  labors  assiduously 
with  that  end  in  view,  and  certainly  merits  the  complete 
success  which  seems  to  be  almost  ^yithin  his  grasp. 

In  our  peregrinations  about  this  "  metroplis  of  the 
world,"  we  first  visited  Westminster  Abbey,  to  secure  a 
view  of  the  tombs  of  the  famous  men  of  England.  Most 
Englishmen    live   with   but    one    ambition,  that   is   to    be 


378  WHAT  I  SAW, 

buried  in  "Westminster.  But  few  reach  the  goal,  and  thus 
the  masses  fall  short  of  their  standard  of  the  sum  of  in- 
humed felicity.  The  building  is  one  of  the  most  ancient 
in  this  old  city  of  London,  having  been  constructed  first 
by  Edward  the  Confessor,  between  the  years  1055  and 
1065.  Of  the  original  building,  however,  but  a  small 
part  remains.  The  greater  portion  as  it  now  stands  was 
built  between  1220  and  1230,  during  the  reign  of  Henry 
III,  although  a  portion  was  constructed  between  1340 
and  1483,  and  the  two  towers  on  the  north  end  are  the 
work  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  who  died  as  late  as  1723, 
and  who  was  also  the  architect  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral. 
Westminster  Abbey  is  a  noble  building,  though  the  full 
grandeur  of  its  effect  is  marred  and  greatly  hidden  by  its 
surroundings.  Its  total  length  is  511  feet;  width,  203,  and 
height,  to  the  apex  of  the  roof,  102.  It  is  only  after  hav- 
ing passed  into  the  interior  that  the  visitor  is  enabled  to 
reach  a  full  conception  of  its  grand  proportions.  Besides 
containing  the  tombs  of  the  Tudor,  Stuart  and  early 
Georgian  lines,  it  is  the  burial  place  of  many  of  England's 
most  eminent  men.  At  the  end  of  the  south  transept  is 
the  "Poet's  Corner,"  where  rest  the  remains  of  Chaucer, 
Beaumont,  Ben  Jonson,  Shakespeare,  Milton,  Dryden, 
Addison,  Gray,  Thomson,  Goldsmith,  Dickens,  Macaulay, 
Bulwer-Lytton,  and  others  who  have  shed  luster  upon  the 
history  of  English  Literature.  In  the  north  transept,  the 
"  Statesman's  Corner,"  I  noted  the  cenotaphs  of  Pitt,  Fox, 
Chatham,  Canning,  Wilberforce,  Palmerston,  and  others. 
It  is  strange,  but  the  tomb  of  Disraeli  is  conspicuous  by  its 
absence.  I  was  given  to  understand  that  he  was  buried 
elsewhere,  in  conformity  with  the  wishes  of  himself  and 
his  family.  Westminster  is  no  longer  the  receptacle  of  the 
royal  dead.  I  believe  that  George  II.  was  the  last  ruler 
of  England  that   was  interred  within  its  walls.      Hours 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  379 

can  be  devoted  to  wandering  amid  these  ancient  tombs, 
and  specnlating  npon  the  hollowness  of  the  pomp  and 
power  that  finds  at  last  a  common  rest,  where  the  pride 
and  arrogance  of  royalty,  and  the  ambitious  glory  of  fame, 
mingle  in  the  cold  and  unsympathetic  mould  of  the  grave. 

We  paid  our  respects  to  the  Parliament  House — from 
the  outside,  as  it  was  impossible  to  secure  admittance. 
Why  the  building  should  be  so  rigidly  closed  against  the 
public  no  one  knows.  Even  when  Parliament  is  in  ses- 
sion, the  would-be  visitor  must  needs  bring  to  bear  strong 
influence  before  he  can  secure  the  boon  of  admission. 
Tickets  are  issued  to  the  favored  ones,  and  they  are  as 
e*agerly  sought  for  as  the  talismanic  bits  of  pasteboard 
which  admit  to  the  circus  are  coveted  by  the  small  boy. 
In  this  connection  we  felt  for  British  exclusiveness  a  con- 
tempt which  we  did  not  express. 

We  next  visited  the  Tower  of  London,  that  ancient 
pile  that  has  been  transformed  by  the  lapse  of  time  from 
a  fortified  castle  to  an  armory  and  museum  of  curious  me- 
mentos of  the  long  past.  The  building  is  of  itself  a  me- 
mento, a  relic  which  binds  the  England  of  to-day  to  the 
England  of  many  centuries  since.  Within  its  somber 
walls  tragedies  have  been  enacted  and  life  dramas  pre- 
sented that  form  long  chapters  in  the  history  of  the  na- 
tion. The  Tower  is  intimately  connected  with  every 
period  of  English  history.  The  date  of  its  construction 
seems  to  be  more  than  a  little  uncertain,  but  in  the  feudal 
days  it  was  a  vast  fortress.  It  occupies  a  plat  of  twelve 
or  thirteen  acres,  surrounded  by  a  moat  or  ditch,  which  is 
usually  dry,  but  can  readily  be  flooded.  The  Tower  pre- 
sents from  the  outside  the  appearance  of  a  vast  castellated 
wall,  broken  by  massive  flanking  towers  at  frequent  in- 
tervals. Within  this  outer  wall  rises  another  of  greater 
height  but  inferior  strength  of  construction.     Within  this 


380  WHAT  I  SAW, 

inner  wall  are  the  barracks,  armories,  etc.,  and  within 
these  the  noted  White  Tower,  where  are  located  the  an- 
cient prison  cells.  No  difficulty  was  experienced  in  ob- 
taining admittance,  and  under  the  care  of  a  guide  we 
wandered  at  will.  We  were  shown  the  prison  of  Lady- 
Jane  Grey,  the  block  upon  which  she  was  beheaded  and 
the  ax  used  in  the  bloody  work.  Every  stone  of  this 
White  Tower,  were  it  blessed  with  the  power  of  speech, 
could  relate  stories  of  the  tragedies  that  largely  composed 
the  history  of  England  during  the  centuries  when  the  will 
of  the  not  often  scrupulous  sovereign  was  the  only  law. 
We  went  to  the  Armor  Room,  where  can  be  seen  the  me- 
tallic armor  of  the  ancient  kings  and  knights  of  Britain. 
These  coats-of-mail  and  battle-axes  indicate  that  the  old- 
time  warriors  were  lusty  fellows,  whose  deeds  of  reckless 
daring  were  incited  not  more  by  ambition  than  physical 
capacity  for  endurance. 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral  was  next  on  our  brief  London 
programme.  There  we  lingered  but  a  short  time,  as  tem- 
ples and  churches  have  lost  their  charm  for  us.  The  Bank 
of  England  and  the  British  Museum  were  passed  in  de- 
tail. The  former  is  bewildering  by  its  display  of  coined 
wealth.  Millions  of  dollars  in  glittering  gold  or  crisp 
notes  pass  before  the  eye  at  a  glance,  and  the  mind  at 
once  begins  to  speculate  upon  what  wonderful  things  could 
be  accomplished  if  the  vast  sums  in  sight  were  only  in 
one's  possession.  We  were  conducted  all  through  the 
bank,  and  courteously  shown  every  feature  of  interest. 
At  the  Museum,  hours — yes,  days,  weeks  and  months, 
could  be  profitably  spent.  My  readers  can  not  expect  me, 
in  these  brief  pages,  to  even  cursorily  notice  the  myriad 
of  attractions  which  it  would  require  wrecks  to  even  look 
at.  I  was  greatlv  interested  in  the  relics  exhumed  at 
Nineveh  and  Babylon,  the  sculptured  winged  bulls,  etc. 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  381 

To-day  is  the  queen's  reception  at  Buckingham  Pal- 
ace, and  we  drove  past  to  see  what  might  be  seen.  We 
did  not  attend  the  reception,  as,  for  some  reason,  we  are 
not  down  on  Her  Majesty's  visiting  list.  Perhaps  she 
does  not  know  we  are  in  the  city.  It  was  a  great  over- 
sight on  our  part  not  to  notify  her  of  our  coming.  We 
could  not,  however,  be  deprived  of  the  privilege  of  stand- 
ing outside  and  watching  the  people  go  in,  admiring  the 
well  dressed  ladies,  fine  carriages,  richly  caparisoned 
horses,  etc.,  as  well  as  the  exquisite  pleasure  of  being 
withered  by  the  glances  of  the  liveried  footmen  whose 
positions  as  flunkeys  to  some  titled  noodle  has  raised  them 
several  degrees  above  the  level  of  common  humanity. 
We  endeavored  to  satisfy  our  curiosity  by  examining  the 
stables  of  the  queen,  but  even  there  we  were  denied  ad- 
mittance. Just  think  of  it !  A  free  American  citizen,  the 
representative  of  the  glory  and  majes-ty  of  the  bald-headed 
bird  of  freedom,  turned  ignominiously  away  from  the 
stables  of  the  queen  of  England !  My  blood  boils !  I 
•want  redress !  I  demand  protection  !  I  will  see  Freling- 
huysen  about  this  as  soon  as  I  get  home.  Now,  if  the 
pugnacious  Blaine  was  at  the  head  of  the  State  Depart- 
ment, I  would  feel  more  encouraged.  I  would  be  ac- 
corded the  privilege  of  visiting  the  stables  of  the  queen 
of  England,  or  there  would  be  war!  As  I  turned  away 
from  the  royal  equine  chambers  I  was  mad,  consumed 
with  wrath,  so  to  speak,  and  looked  about  me  for  the 
ubiquitous  "yaller  dog,"  upon  which  to  vent  my  spleen, 
but  even  that  pleasure  was  denied  me. 

We  will  leave  London  to-morrow  for  Scotland,  and 
will  take  a  short  tour  through  the  north  of  Ireland  before 
sailing  for  America. 


382  WHAT  I  SAW, 


XXX. 

Edinburgh,  Glasgow,  Belfast— A  Visit  to  the  Giant's  Cause- 
way—Impressions IN  Ireland— Londonderry  and  the  Voy- 
age Across  the  Atlantic— Concluding  Compliments  to  the 
"  Blarsted  Britishers." 

New  York,  Marc/t  — ,  1882. 

I  HAVE  presumed  so  much  upon  the  probabilities  of 
the  future  as  to  date  this  letter  in  New  York,  but  at  the 
moment  of  writing  we  are  in  the  midst  of  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  pitching,  rolling,  and  tumbling  about  in  a  dis- 
couragingly  miscellaneous  manner;  that  is  to  say,  the  ves- 
sel is,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  passengers  follow  its 
example  in  a  manner  appealing  at  once  to  the  sympathies 
and  the  sense  of  the  ludicrous  of  the  looker,  who  invol- 
untarily participates  in  the  mirth-provoking  gyrations. 
If  there  was  any  regularity  in  the  rolling  of  the  vessel  it 
would  not  be  so  discouraging,  but  some  especially  aggra- 
vating lurch,  destructive  of  mental  equanimity  and  dis- 
mally disastrous  to  the  physical  equipoise,  drives  all  the 
sentiment  from  him.  The  suddenness  with  which  the  cen- 
ter of  gravity,  under  such  circumstances,  is  shifted  with- 
out the  body,  and  the  latter  seeks  the  horizontal  position 
which  is  much  easier  maintained  than  the  perpendicular, 
is  bewildering.  All  the  ocean  experiences  of  our  travel 
have  been  the  perfection  of  calm  peacefulness  compared 
with  the  tempestuous  voyage  across  the  Atlantic.  The 
nautical  education  received  on  the  Pacific  and  Indian 
oceans  and  the  Mediterranean  Sea  did  not  avail  us.     On 


AND  HO  W  I SA  W  IT.  383 

the  Atlantic  we  are  veritable  land-lubbers,  and  both  suf- 
fered greatly  from  seasickness. 

All  this,  however,  is  a  long  way  ahead  of  my  story. 
We  left  London  in  the  forenoon  of  the  day  following  the 
conclusion  of  my  last  letter,  bound  for  Edinburgh  and 
Glasgow,  in  "  Bonnie  Scotland."  The  country  en  route  was 
like  a  garden,  the  grass  green,  the  trees  in  full  foliage,  and 
the  land  having  the  appearance  of  a  most  thorough  degree 
of  cultivation.  The  Winter  wheat  was  looking  fine,  and 
gave  promise  of  an  abundant  crop.  We  passed  through 
Bedford,  Leicester,  Leeds,  and  Carlisle,  besides  an  innu- 
merable number  of  smaller  cities,  towns,  and  villages — 
all  seemingly  busy  hives  of  thriving  industry.  Of  course, 
we  are  seeing  all  this  section  of  the  world  at  the  most  un- 
favorable season,  and  much  earlier  than  we  had  expected 
to.  Nevertheless,  we  see  much  in  England,  particularly 
the  rural  portions,  to  admire.  The  farm  houses  are  uni- 
versally fine  appearing,  and  the  farms  give  unmistakable 
evidence  of  good  care.  Like  other  countries,  however, 
such  care  is  absolutely  necessary,  as  land  is  so  costly  and, 
in  case  of  lease,  the  rent  is  so  high,  that  the  farmers  must 
per  force  till  every  foot  to  its  utmost  capacity. 

The  distance  from  London  to  Edinburgh  is  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty-seven  miles,  and  it  was  late  in  the  evening 
when  the  train  arrived.  In  my  previous  European  jaunt 
I  visited  this  ancient  capital  of  Scotland,  and  then,  as 
now,  found  many  points  of  interest.  So  closely  is  Edin- 
burgh identified  with  the  history  of  Scotland  that  the 
student  of  the  latter  must  needs  become  acquainted  with 
the  stirring  events  that  have  made  the  former  distin- 
guished. This  city  was  founded  in  the  sixth  century,  and 
history  of  two  hundred  years  later  speaks  of  it  as  a  place 
of  some  consequence.  To-day  it  is  a  fine  city,  with  stately 
buildings,  unexcelled  schools,  libraries,  etc.,  but  one  which 


384  WHAT  I  SAW, 

could  scarcely,  from  a  commercial  or  manufacturing  point 
of  view,  be  spoken  of  as  thriving.  Its  manufactures  are 
confined  almost  wholly  to  the  necessities  of  her  own  people 
and  those  tributary.  The  city  is  built  upon  three  parallel 
ridges,  running  east  and  w^est.  On  the  center  of  these 
was  originally  constructed  the  town,  composing  that  part 
that  is  known  as  old  Edinburgh.  This  ridge  terminates 
abruptly  on  the  west  in  a  precipitous  rock,  where  is  lo- 
cated the  celebrated  castle  of  Edinburgh,  at  a  height  of 
four  hundred  feet  above  the  sea.  The  date  of  the  con- 
struction of  this  ancient  pile  has  been  lost  from  history. 
So  far  back  as  1093,  it  is  mentioned  as  having  been  the 
scene  of  the  death  of  one  of  the  Scottish  queens.  In 
1556,  James  VI.,  of  Scotland,  w^as  born  here.  At  the 
east  end  of  the  old  town  is  the  palace  of  Holyrood.  This 
was  founded  in  the  year  1128,  by  the  Scottish  King  David. 
It  was  destroyed  by  the  English  no  less  than  three  times, 
and  was  plundered  by  a  mob  once.  On  the  lower  and 
northernmost  of  these  ridges  of  which  I  have  spoken  is  lo- 
cated the  new  town,  which  is  much  more  modern  in  ap- 
pearance than  the  old.  Its  streets  and  squares  are  of  great 
beauty  and  regularity.  On  Calton  Hill  stands  Nelson's 
monument,  and  near  to  that  of  Dugald  Stewart  and  of 
Burns.  The  monument  to  Sir  Walter  Scott  is  located  in 
Prince's  Street,  and  is  very  attractive.  Edinburgh  has 
long  been  noted  for  its  educational  facilities,  and  is  prob- 
ably not  excelled,  if  equaled,  by  any  city  in  the  world  in  this 
regard,  and  in  the  intelligence  and  refinement  of  its  people. 
In  our  perambulations  about  the  city  we  visited  most 
of  the  points  of  interest,  including  the  palace  of  Holyrood, 
so  intimately  associated  with  the  career  of  the  unfortunate 
Mary  Queen  of  Scots.  We  entered  the  chamber  of  Mary, 
where  she,  on  the  evening  of  the  9th  of  March,  1566, 
was   supping  with  her  favorite,  Rizzio,  an   Italian  music 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  385 

teacher,  when  her  husband,  Lord  Darnley,  at  the  head  of 
a  band  of  noble  assassins,  burst  into  the  room,  and  drag- 
ging forth  the  uxorious  gentleman  from  Italy,  summarily- 
put  him  to  death.  The  usually  practical  Scots  displayed 
unexpected  sentiment  by  preserving  the  room  in  the  same 
condition  in  which  it  was  left  by  the  tragedy.  We  were 
shown  the  stairway  where  the  murder  occurred,  and  looked 
upon  the  bed,  now  mouldering  with  time,  where  the  beau- 
tiful young  queen  rested  her  shapely  royal  person,  and 
the  tapestry  falling  into  decay.  As  I  looked  upon  these 
mementos  of  the  beautiful  Scottish  queen,  my  mind  rev- 
eled in  the  stirring  scenes  that  crowd  upon  each  other, 
and  make  the  sum  of  her  sad  life.  I  mentally  followed 
her  devious  career,  her  successive  quarrels  and  reconcilia- 
tions with  Earl  Murray,  her  illegitimate  half-brother;  the 
tragic  death  of  Darnley,  which  the  queen  was  more  than 
suspected  of  having  plotted ;  her  liaison  with  and  subse- 
quent marriage  to  Earl  Bothwell ;  her  final  overthrow 
and  abdication ;  her  flight  to  England,  where  her  restless 
spirit  led  her  into  misjudged  and  unworthy  intrigues  ;  her 
arrest  and  imprisonment ;  her  supposed  secret  marriage 
with  the  Duke  of  Norfolk;  and  the  final  scene,when  the 
judgment  of  the  court  of  forty-six  nobles,  chosen  for  the 
purpose  of  trying  her,  condemned  her  to  death ;  and,  with 
the  cool  heroism  of  her  race,  on  the  8th  of  February, 
1587,  she  went  calmly  to  the  block,  at  the  age  of  forty- 
five  years.  Hers  is  a  sad  history,  and  nowhere  are  its 
events  brought  so  forcibly  and  freshly  to  mind  as  amid 
the  scenes  that  were  familiar  to  her  unhappy  life. 

We  drove  through  the  city,  and  viewed  its  points  of  in- 
terest, admiring  the  thriftiness  of  the  practical  Scotch,  and 
renewed  our  journey  to  Glasgow.  It  does  not  seem  pos- 
sible that  two  cities  of  the  same  country,  and  distant  only 
forty  miles,  could  be  so  diiferent  in  every  material  aspect 

25 


386  WHAT  1  SAW, 

as  Glasgow  and  Edinburgh.  The  latter  possesses  no 
commercial  importance  whatever,  and  rests  quietly  upon 
its  honors  as  one  of  the  intellectual  centers  of  Europe, 
while  the  former  is  classed  among  the  most  important 
commercial  emporiums  of  the  world.  The  difference  be- 
comes apparent  even  before  the  visitor  has  left  his  hotel. 
The  capacious  streets  of  Glasgow  are  thronged  with  busy 
crowds,  intent  upon  business  pursuits.  I  had  been  under 
the  impression  that  Edinburgh  was  the  older  city  of  the 
two,  but  find  upon  examination  that  Glasgow  was  founded 
as  long  ago  as  560,  and  is  therefore  about  contemporane- 
ous with  its  mate.  The  older  part  of  the  city  is  badly 
built  and  as  unattractive  as  any  collection  of  buildings 
could  be,  but  the  new  portion  is  well  constructed,  with 
spacious  squares,  wide  streets,  and  elegant  buildings.  The 
city  is  so  thoroughly  devoted  to  commerce  and  trade  that 
little  except  the  varied  and  extensive  manufactories,  the 
shipyards  that  line  the  banks  of  the  Clyde  for  many  miles, 
and  the  shipping  that  constantly  crowds  the  port,  interests 
the  tourist.  Glasgow  is  singularly  barren  of  historical 
interest,  and  there  the  ghoulish  antiquary  finds  nothing  to 
occupy  his  attention. 

One  thing  that  perhaps  more  than  all  others  aroused 
my  admiration  in  Scotland,  was  the  universal  neatness. 
The  farms  are  as  trim  and  presentable  as  a  well-culti- 
vated garden  at  home,  all  provided  with  commodious 
stone  houses  and  barns.  Nowhere  in  Scotland  did  we  see 
a  frame  building  of  any  kind.  The  yards  and  gardens 
are  models,  reaching  almost  to  arboricultural  perfection. 

We  spent  Sunday  in  Glasgow,  and  for  the  first  time 
since  we  left  home  we  found  the  observance  of  the  day 
such  as,  to  our  ideas,  fully  comported  with  its  solemnity. 
The  Scotch  people  are  noted  for  their  stern,  inflexible  ad- 
herence to  the  strictest  interpretation  of  the  doctrines  of 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  387 

Calvin ;  they  are  undeviating  believers  in  "  foreordina- 
tion/'  ''  election/'  and  "  original  sin,"  and  while  the  Chris- 
tian Church  elsewhere  has  become  more  or  less  liberalized 
in  its  ideas  and  practices,  in  Scotland  it  remains  un- 
changed. The  doctrine  of  eternal  punishment  in  a  lake 
of  literal  burning  brimstone  is  still  the  favorite  theme  of 
the  Scotch  Presbyterians.  Sunday  among  such  a  people 
scarcely  needs  to  be  described,  particularly  to  those  of  my 
older  readers  whose  youthful  religious  instruction  was  re- 
ceived in  the  Presbyterian  school.  During  the  hours  when 
the  worshipers  were  not  either  going  to  or  returning  from 
church,  the  streets  of  Glasgow  were  as  deserted  and  quiet 
as  the  thoroughfares  of  a  country  village.  The  attendance 
at  church  seemed  to  be  almost  universal,  or,  if  not,  those 
who  failed  to  attend  kept  closely  to  their  homes.  We  at- 
tended church,  and  listened  to  a  sermon  that  reminded  me 
more  of  home  than  any  we  have  heard  for  months. 

The  weather  here  is  perceptibly  colder  than  at  Lon- 
don, such  temperature  as  we  have  at  home  during  the 
same  season.  It  is  a  fact  not  often  recognized  by  Ameri- 
cans that  England  and  Ireland  are  on  the  same  parallel 
of  latitude  as  Labrador,  and  that  Scotland  corresponds  in 
distance  from  the  equator  Avith  the  cold,  bleak,  and  barren 
regions  of  Hudson's  Bay,  a  region  that,  while  not  wholly 
uninhabitable,  is  entirely  unproductive.  Notwithstanding 
this,  the  climate  of  London  corresponds  about  with  that 
of  Tennessee,  and  that  of  Glasgow  and  Edinburgh  with 
that  of  New  York  and  Chicago.  The  great  variation  in 
the  length  of  the  days  is  noticeable  in  Scotland,  by  reason 
of  its  northern  position.  Just  at  present  this  is  not  ob- 
servable, because  we  are  approaching  the  vernal  equinox  ; 
but  in  June,  when  darkness  comes  to  us  at  home  by  half- 
past  eight,  at  Edinburgh  a  paper  can  be  easily  read  by 
daylight  as  late  as  ten,  and  the  sun  rises  before  three  in 


388  WHA  T  I  SA  W, 

the  morning.  Per  contra,  in  December,  lights  become 
necessary  before  three  o'clock,  and  the  sun  does  not  rise 
in  the  morning  until  after  eight.  The  variation  in  the 
climate  between  the  western  part  of  Europe  and  the  east- 
ern portion  of  America  is  caused,  as  your  readers  are 
doubtless  aware,  by  one  of  the  unumbered  beneficent  pro- 
visions of  Providence.  Starting  from  the  superheated 
waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Caribbean  Sea  is  a 
body  known  as  the  Gulf  Stream,  which,  with  an  average 
width  of  about  two  hundred  miles,  flows  north-eastwardly 
through  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  strikes  the  western  coasts 
of  England  and  Ireland,  diffusing  a  warmth  that  produces 
the  remarkable  climate  of  those  countries,  and  losing  itself 
in  the  frigid  waters  of  the  Arctic  Sea.  Were  it  not  for 
this  immense  body  of  warm  water,  guided  and  controlled 
by  some  unknown  power  or  law  of  nature,  England,  Ire- 
land, and  Scotland  would  be  bleak  and  barren  wastes,  un- 
productive and  almost  uninhabitable  by  reason  of  the  ex- 
treme cold.  The  immutability  of  the  laws  of  nature  is 
one  of  the  most  bountiful  of  the  dispensations  of  Provi- 
dence. Science  is  wholly  unable  to  account  for  the  Gulf 
Stream,  but  the  knowledge  that  the  same  power  that  con- 
trols it  now  will  continue  its  guide  through  the  countless 
ages  of  futurity  is  enjoyed  by  all.  It  is  curious  to 
speculate  upon  what  would  be  the  effect  if  this  stream 
should  cease  to  flow,  and  no  longer  carry  to  the  shores  of 
western  Europe  that  warmth  upon  which  the  mild  climate 
depends.  The  green  hills  and  fertile  fields  would  be  trans- 
formed into  barren  wastes,  where  the  hardy  pine  and  moss 
lichen  onlv  would  flourish. 

We  took  a  steamer  at  Glasgow  for  Belfast  at  6  P.  M., 
and  crossed  over  the  Irish  Sea,  arriving  at  our  destination 
earlv  the  next  mornina::.  Belfast  is  the  commercial  em- 
porium  and  manufacturing  center  of  Ireland,  being  con- 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  389 

nected  by  rail  with  all  parts  of  the  country  and  by  steam- 
ers with  Glasgow,  London,  Liverpool,  and  other  points, 
and  next  to  Dublin  is  the  most  important.  It  is  the 
head-quarters  for  the  linen  manufacture  that  has  aided  to 
make  Ireland  famous.  The  city  has  an  unexpectedly 
modern  appearance,  with  wide,  airy  streets,  and  fine  busi- 
ness houses,  and  taseful  dwellings,  composed  for  the  most 
part  of  brick.  Located  at  the  head  of  Carrickfergus  Bay, 
its  harbor  is  not  excelled  anywhere  in  Europe.  From 
what  we  had  heard  and  read  during  the  past  two  years, 
we  expected  to  find  the  Emerald  Isle  in  more  or  less  tur- 
moil, and  perhaps  on  the  eve  of  a  bloody  attempted  rev- 
olution. We  were  agreeably  disappointed.  Every  thing 
was  as  peaceful  and  quiet  as  the  most  inoffensive  could 
desire.  That  part  of  Ireland  through  which  we  passed, 
from  Belfast  to  Londonderry,  is  perhaps  the  most  pros- 
perous. It  is,  also,  but  a  small  part  of  the  country,  and 
it  would  be  unjust  for  us  to  base  a  comprehensive  opinion 
of  the  condition  of  the  Irish  people  upon  what  we  saw. 
It  rained  continuously  during  our  stay  at  Belfast,  and  as 
a  consequence  our  impressions  of  the  city  are  neither  as 
extensive  nor  as  favorable  as  they  might  have  been  under 
more  fortuitous  circumstances. 

Our  next  point  was  Portrush,  on  the  northern  coast 
of  county  Antrim,  from  whence  to  reach  the  Giant's  Cause- 
way, one  of  those  remarkable  geological  formations  with 
the  existence  of  which  most  persons  are  familiar.  As  we 
passed  through  the  country  I  judged  the  soil  to  be  very 
good.  Most  of  this  part  of  Ireland  is  devoted  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  flax,  and  the  linen  mills  are  to  be  seen  every 
few  miles.  I  have  not  seen  farming  land  anywhere  that 
looks  more  productive  or  is  kept  in  better  condition. 
We  arrived  at  Portrush  about  noon,  and  found  it  a  pretty 
little    village    of  about    fifteen    hundred    people,   among 


390  WITA  T  I  SA  W, 

whom  the  "  swate  brogue"  and  j)roverbial  blarney  flourish 
with  prolific  luxuriance.  They,  however,  thoroughly  sus- 
tain the  Irish  reputation  for  kindness  and  hosi^itality. 
There  is  not  much  to  sustain  the  three  hotels  of  the 
place,  and  nothing  to  rescue  the  town  from  the  obscurity 
of  unimportant  Irish  villages,  except  that  it  is  the  place 
from  which  visitors  to  the  Giant's  Causeway  start,  which 
point  is  eight  miles  distant,  to  be  traversed  in  the  noted 
"Irish  jaunting  car." 

On  the  mornino;  of  the  8th  of  March  we  made  a  bar- 
gain  with  "  Pat,"  by  which  he  bound  himself  to  drive  us 
to  the  Causeway  and  return  after  giving  us  ample  time  to 
examine  it.  Our  driver  was  "  a  jewel,"  who  regaled  us 
with  many  quaint  stories,  and  amused  us  by  the  con- 
tinuous flow  of  "  blarney."  "  It  is  the  loikes  o'  ye  that  I 
have  been  afther  takin'  befure !  Sure,  an'  it  was  meself 
that  drew  Gineral  Grant  and  Gineral  Shurman!"  was  his 
greeting,  with  which  he  hoped  to  induce  us  to  patronize 
him.  We  did  not  know  whether  he  told  the  truth,  nor 
did  it  make  any  difference,  as  it  was  not  probable  that  the 
car  would  move  any  more  rapidly  or  smoothly  because  of 
having  been  patronized  by  the  two  eminent  gentlemen 
named.  The  route  lies  over  a  good  road  along  the  sea- 
shore, for  most  of  the  distance  between  the  bluffs  and  the 
water  line,  occasionally  debouching  into  the  open  country 
by  the  bog  lands. 

The  Causeway,  like  other  things  we  have  seen,  differs 
from  the  impressions  formed  by  reading  the  descriptions 
of  others,  but  was  none  the  less  curious  for  that  reason. 
It  is  a  platform  composed  of  closely  arranged  colums  of 
basalt,  generally  hexagonal  or  polygonal  prisms  of  short 
irregular  lengths,  piled  vertically.  It  is  about  twenty- 
five  feet  high,  three  hundred  in  breadth,  and  six  hundred 
long.     It  had  the   apjjearance   to   me  of  a  slide,  reaching 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  391 

from  the  cliif  at  an  angle  until  it  is  lost  in  the  sea.  The 
columns  of  which  it  is  composed  are  all  about  a  foot  in 
depth,  and  so  neatly  are  they  fitted  together  that  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  disabuse  the  mind  of  the  impression  that  it  is  the 
work  of  human  hands.  These  pieces  of  rock,  about  a 
foot  in  depth,  are  piled  neatly  upon  top  of  each  other  and 
give  the  appearance  of  a  continuous  column  from  top  to 
bottom.  Among  the  millions  of  columns  no  two  are  of  pre- 
cisely the  same  shape.  Some  are  triangular,  others  quad- 
rangular, sexagonal,  septagonal,  octagonal,  etc.,  each  side 
fitting  with  mechanical  exactness  to  that  of  its  neighbor. 
If  the  visitor  has  the  curiosity  to  displace  one  of  the 
stones,  he  will  find  that  beneath  just  like  it,  except  that 
the  lower  surface  of  the  upper  one  is  concave  and  fits 
upon  the  convex  top  of  the  one  beneath.  The  stone  is  of 
a  dark  blue  cast  of  color.  After  passing  over  the  top,  the 
visitor  should  descend  and  examine  it  from  below,  and 
thus  he  will  be  able  to  form  an  intelligent  idea  of  its 
peculiar  formation.  It  is  difficult,  perhaps,  to  give  the 
reader  a  thorough  idea,  but  he  can  imagine  a  pavement 
constructed  of  blocks  of  stone  cut  on  the  edges  at  irreg- 
ular angles,  but  each  fitted  completely  to  the  angle  of  the 
one  next  to  it.  Then  imagine  that  this  pavement,  instead 
of  being  composed  of  thin  stones,  is  formed  of  a  continua- 
tion of  stones  piled  with  mathematical  precision  one  upon 
another  to  the  height  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  feet,  and  you 
have  an  impression  of  the  Giant's  Causeway  as  it  really 
appears.  It  is  well  worth  the  inconvenience  and  expense 
of  a  visit.  Tradition,  or  rather  Hibernian  mythology, 
credits  its  construction  to  a  race  of  giants,  who  contem- 
plated an  immense  viaduct  upon  which  to  cross  into  Scot- 
land. Science,  that  ruthless  iconoclast,  however,  strips 
this  story  of  its  attractiveness,  and  shows  that  the  for- 
mation is  one  of  the  inexplicable  freaks  of  nature.    We 


392  WHAT  I  SAW. 

examined  it  on  every  side  to  our  entire  satisfaction,  and 
then  climbed  the  hill  to  where  our  carriages  were  waiting 
and  returned  for  a  late  dinner  at  Portrush. 

All  that  part  of  Ireland  has  more  potatoes  than  they 
can  consume,  and  they  are  freely  offered  for  ten  cents  per 
bushel.  The  crop,  they  told  me,  was  last  year  five  times 
better  than  was  ever  before  known,  and  I  understand 
large  consignments  have  been  shipped  to  America  and 
sold  at  a  good  profit.  For  the  land  in  this  part  of  the 
country,  the  peasants  pay  an  annual  rental  of  fifteen 
dollars  per  acre.  The  problem  of  how  they  can  pay  such 
a  price  and  sell  the  potatoes  at  ten  cents  a  bushel  is 
one  which  I  will  not  attempt  to  solve.  The  town,  and 
most  of  the  country  around,  is  the  property  of  Lord 
Antrim.  The  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  has 
built  a  neat  and  pretty  church  and  parsonage  at  Portrush, 
and  for  the  site  they  had  to  pay  Lord  Antrim  twenty-five 
cents  a  square  foot.  The  said  lord  is  a  poor  poverty- 
stricken  wretch,  wath  only  a  few  millon  dollars  between 
him  and  want,  and,  perhaps,  he  was  really  generous  in 
not  asking  more  for  his  land.  Our  hotel,  the  "Antrim 
Arms,"  was  in  every  way  commendable,  and  as  pleasant  a 
place  as  one  would  care  to  patronize.  I  think  the  town 
would  be  a  delightful  resort  in  the  Summer,  but  at  this 
season  the  experiences  of  the  visitor  are  not  wholly 
]>leasant. 

We  left  the  same  evening  for  Londonderry,  the  last 
point  in  our  foreign  travels,  and  arrived  at  nine  P.  M. 

Of  all  the  surprises  we  have  met  during  a  tour  of 
fully  twenty-five  thousand  miles,  the  strangest,  the  most 
thoroughly  astounding,  awaited  us  at  Londonderry.  It 
Avas  a  mysterious  appearing  package,  containing  a  remit- 
tance of  £5.  It  seemed  that  in  paying  our  bill  at  the 
hotel  in  Glasgow  I  had  given  the  cashier  a  £10  note,  in- 


A  yo  HO  W  I  ,SV1  W  IT.  393 

stead,  as  I  thought,  £5,  and  the  proprietor,  knowing  we 
were  to  sail  from  Londonderry,  forwarded  it  to  me !  Such 
honesty  is  phenomenal,  and  increased  my  previous  good 
opinion  of  the  Scotch  people  several  degrees.  For  the 
benefit  of  American  travelers,  I  give  the  name  of  the 
hotel,  and  commend  it  to  them.  It  is  "  Cranston's  Wa- 
verly,"  185  Buchanan  Street.  It  has  many  recommenda- 
tions besides  the  honesty  of  the  proprietor.  It  is  a 
strictly  temperance  establishment,  neat  and  clean,  com- 
plete in  its  accommodations  and  reasonable  in  its  charges. 

Londonderry  we  found  a  busy,  thriving  seaport  of 
some  thirty  thousand  people.  It  is  one  of  the  oldest 
towns  of  Ireland,  and  was  formerly  surrounded  by  a  wall, 
picturesque  portions  of  which  still  remain.  The  site  is 
quite  hilly,  and  I  judge  that  the  location  is  very  healthy. 
The  harbor  is  both  commodious  and  deep,  and  it  has  an 
extensive  trade  with  the  United  States  and  other  parts  of 
the  world.  The  city  has  expanded  much  beyond  the  old 
walls,  and  this  former  defensive  line  is  seemingly  pre- 
served solely  as  a  relic  of  the  past.  The  town  occupies 
both  sides  of  the  river  Foyle,  which  here  empties  into  the 
sea.  Londonderry  is  the  seaport  for  all  the  north  of  Ire- 
land, and  is  the  point  of  departure  for  all  the  emigrants 
from  that  section  of  the  country.  In  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury the  town  was  closely  besieged  from  December  to 
August,  by  James  II.  of  England,  and  beyond  this  it  has 
no  historical  importance. 

I  found,  in  our  brief  travel  through  Ireland,  that 
people  can  read  in  the  papers  many  thrilling  incidents 
which  the  residents  of  the  country  never  heard  of.  In 
fact,  we  scarcely  heard  that  there  was  any  trouble  or  dis- 
content among  the  people.  It  is  but  fair  to  say,  however, 
that  our  experience  and  facilities  for  observation  were 
very   incomplete.      The    part   of  the   country   which   we 


394  WHAT  1  SAW, 

traversed  is  firm  in  its  loyalty  to  the  British  crown,  and 
it  would  be  manifestly  unjust  for  me  to  judge  of  the  con- 
dition of  affairs  from  the  small  part  we  saw.  We  were 
told  that  the  agitation  is  largely  due  to  the  ambition  of  a 
few  leaders  to  foist  themselves  into  prominence  and  at  the 
same  time  profit  by  the  discontent  which  they  have  aided 
to  eno;ender.  The  contributions  of  the  enthusiastic  friends 
of  Ireland  in  America  largely  find  their  way  into  the 
pockets  of  these  agitators.  I  can  not,  of  course,  assert 
that  this  view  of  the  matter  is  correct,  but  this  much  I 
can  say  :  The  day  when  England  will  concede  the  free- 
dom of  Ireland  is  as  distant  as  the  millenium,  and  while 
concessions  may  be  secured  from  time  to  time  in  the  fu- 
ture, as  they  have  been  in  the  past,  nothing  is  gained 
by  appeals  to  the  passions  of  men,  or  money  contributions 
to  a  cause  which  can  never  succeed.  An  attempted  revo- 
lution in  Ireland  could  but  prove  crushingly  disastrous  to 
the  people.  This  is  the  history  of  the  past,  and  will  be 
the  history  of  the  future.  Of  the  justice  of  the  cause  of 
Ireland,  I  have  no  opinion  to  express.  Doubtless  the 
Irish  people  have  their  grievances,  and  naturally  hope  for 
relief  from  the  rule  of  England,  but  whether  they  would 
be  benefited  thereby  is  a  question  to  be  considered  sec- 
ondary to  a  recognition  of  the  futility  of  their  endeavors 
to  reach  that  goal  of  their  ambition. 

Bidding  farewell  to  Ireland  and  Europe,  we  went 
down  Loch  Foyle,  in  a  steam  tug,  to  the  little  town  of 
Moville,  where  we  were  to  intercept  the  steamer  Anchoria, 
en  route  from  Glasgow  to  New  York.  On  board  the  tug 
were  two  hundred  Irish  emigrants.  Our  connection  was 
complete,  and  in  an  amazingly  short  space  of  time  we 
were  transferred  to  the  steamer,  a  few  to  the  saloon,  but 
the  mass  to  an  unexplored  depth  below,  known  as  the 
steeraiTC.      On  board   were   about   four   hundred   German 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  395 

emigrants,  all,  with  thousands  of  others,  fleeing  from  the 
fateful  military  conscription  of  the  Faderland.  We  have 
twenty  saloon  passengers,  mainly  well-to-do  Scotchmen, 
bound  for  Iowa  or  Dakota.  They  are  unusually  well  in- 
formed concerning  America  and  the  resources  of  the 
country  which  they  have  selected  as  their  future  homes. 

We  had  hardly  been  two  hours  out  from  Moville  until 
it  began  to  blow  a  gale,  and  this  unsatisfactory  state  of  me- 
teorological affairs  has  continued  with  wearisome  regularity 
to  the  present.  The  seventh  day  out  was  the  first  that 
that  we  could  walk  on  deck.  For  seven  days  a  constant 
gale  blew  from  the  west,  or  dead  against  us,  and  it  was 
with  difficulty  that  the  steamer  could  make  eight  miles  an 
hour.  On  the  eighth  day  we  were  only  half-way  over. 
We  have  a  genial  captain,  a  full-blooded  Irishman,  whose 
heart  is  as  big  as  an  ox,  and  a  man  of  strict  temperance 
habits,  filled  with  all  the  love  of  jollity  that  distinguishes 
his  race.  He  does  all  he  can  to  cheer  up  his  passengers 
and  drive  away  seasickness,  which  all  of  us  have  had  to 
pass  through.  It  was  not  until  the  eighth  day  out  that 
all  the  passengers  appeared  at  table.  All  the  bad  weather 
we  experienced  through  the  Pacific  and  Indian  Oceans 
and  the  Red  and  Mediterranean  Seas  combined  would  not 
equal  the  disagreeableness  of  one  hour  on  the  Atlantic. 
The  tenth  day  out  we  encountered  many  icebergs,  and 
had  to  move  very  cautiously  in  order  to  avoid  them.  On 
the  22d  we  gladly  greeted  the  American  shore.  To  those 
whose  eyes  had  never  rested  on  the  "  land  of  the  free," 
the  sight  gave  rise  to  thoughts  and  words  of  hopeful  ex- 
pectation. To  us  it  was  a  doubly  welcome  sight.  It  is 
our  country !  Beyond  that  dark,  cloud-like  bank  is  our 
home !  There  are  our  friends  !  There  awaits  our  welcome 
after  months  of  wanderins' ! 

I  can  not  close  this,  my  last  letter  from  abroad,  with- 


396  WHAT  I  SAW, 

out  once  more  paying  my  regards  to  the  English  people. 
They  are  to  be  found  everywhere.  No  country,  no  city, 
no  means  of  conveyance  have  we  found  that  was  free 
from  their  too  often  unwelcome  presence.  To  their  idea, 
no  one  can  possess  an  atom  of  information  upon  any  point 
superior  to  them  ;  no  country  is  so  intelligent  and  refined 
as  theirs,  and  the  representatives  of  all  nations  must  stand 
aside  to  give  the  Englishman  precedence.  So  far  as  my 
experience  extends,  and  most  of  my  readers  will  admit 
that  it  is  not  circumscribed,  they  are  not,  as  a  people, 
either  refined  or  intelligent.  The  most  disgusting  boor- 
ishness  which  I  have  met  among  civilized  people  has  been 
exhibited  by  Englishmen ;  the  most  phenomenally  pro- 
found ignorance  to  be  found  among  enlightened  people  is 
to  be  encountered  among  the  English.  I  have  seen  in 
the  East  more  drunkenness  among  English  officials  than 
could  be  met  anywhere  in  America  outside  the  slums  of 
the  larger  cities.  I  have  seen  a  minister  of  the  Church 
of  England  so  drunk  within  an  hour  after  conducting  re- 
ligious services  that  he  could  not  walk  across  the  ship's 
cabin.  I  have  had  questions  concerning  America  that 
would  have  sounded  silly  coming  from  the  lips  of  a  four- 
year-old  child,  propounded  to  me  by  English  men  and 
women  of  pretended  intelligence  and  education.  Some 
of  these  I  have  heretofore  detailed ;  others  are  of  more 
recent  occurrence.  For  instance,  one  arrogant  taurine 
Johnny  on  board  this  vessel,  with  all  the  pomposity  that 
a  conscious  superiority  could  assume,  inquired  of  me  if 
we  had  any  religion  in  America.  I  was  tempted  to  reply 
like  the  German  did  to  the  stuttering;  customer,  who 
wanted  to  know  if  his  parrot  could  talk :  "  Veil,  if  he 
talk  no  petter  as  you,  I  cut  his  d — d  head  off!"  I  could 
have  told  him  with  equal  zest  that  if  the  quality  of  our 
religion  was  not  better  than  that  presented  by  the  Church 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  397 

of  England,  we  would  be  better  without;  but  I  forbore, 
and  answered  that  he  would  doubtless  find  sufficient  to 
supply  all  his  pressing  demands.  Another,  a  lady,  asked: 
"  Have  you  any  drug  stores  in  New  York,  where  I  can 
get  some  camphor  when  we  land  ?"  Now,  this,  as  the 
boys  say,  "  broke  me  all  up ;"  it  "  made  me  tired,"  and  I 
simply  answered  "yes,"  and  walked  to  the  other  end  of 
the  saloon  to  conceal,  if  possible,  my  disgust.  While  our 
experiences  with  the  English  people  has  not  at  all  times 
been  pleasant,  yet  I  can  not  close  this  volume  without 
paying  them  one  merited  compliment.  Many  officials,  both 
civil  and  military,  as  well  as  the  officers  of  English  ves- 
sels on  which  we  have  traveled  in  diffi^rent  parts  of  the 
world,  are  models  of  courtesy  and  attention.  They  have 
little  of  the  selfish  vanity  which  distinguished  many  of 
those  who  were  our  fellow  travelers.  Most  of  the  class 
whom  I  have  excepted  are  educated  gentlemen  whose  in- 
stincts arc  those  of  gentility,  and  whose  positions  demand 
the  utmost  courtesy. 

Our  journey  is  now  about  to  an  end,  and  as  I  write 
these  lines  we  are  steaming  up  New  York  Bay,  past  the 
forts,  Staten  Island,  and  the  thousand  and  one  other  wel- 
come sights  to  the  eyes  of  returning  wanderers.  We  will 
land  in  an  hour,  and  I  will  endeavor  to  curb  the  force  of 
a  habit  I  have  acquired,  and  omit  a  brief  historical  sketch 
of  the  American  metropolis  and  its  points  of  interest. 

Our  circle  of  the  globe  is  near  complete,  and  to  the 
many  kind  friends  who  have  followed  us  through  these 
rambling  sketches,  we  return  our  sincere  thanks,  hoping 
that  their  perusal  has  helped  them  to  pleasantly  and 
profitably  while  away  otherwise  tedious  hours. 


398  WHAT  I  SAW, 


XXXI. 

At  Home — A   Resume  of  the  Tour — Advice  to  Travelers — Ex- 
penses OF  A  Trip  Around  the  World — "  Welcome  Home." 

BucYRUs,  Ohio,  April  2,  1882. 

OuE  long  journey  is  ended,  and  once  more  we  find 
ourselves  amid  the  familiar  scenes  of  home,  and  sur- 
rounded by  the  thrice  dear  friends  whose  good  wishes 
have  kindly  followed  us  in  our  travels.  It  has  been  sug- 
gested that  a  brief  resume  of  our  travels  in  foreign  lands, 
coupled  with  suggestions  drawn  from  our  experiences, 
would  not  be  wholly  inappropriate  as  an  appendix  to 
what  I  have  Avritten.  The  task,  were  I  to  undertake  it 
with  a  view  of  touching  more  than  very  lightly  upon  the 
salient  features  of  the  tour,  would  be  of  such  proportions 
as  would  discourage  me  in  advance  of  the  essay. 

My  first  advice  to  the  traveler  who  contemplates  making 
the  tour  of  the  world,  is  to  read  carefully  not  only  the 
standard  histories  of  the  nations  he  proposes  to  visit,  but 
also  the  works  written  by  those  who  have  preceded  him. 
A  knowledge  of  the  leading  events  in  the  past  history  of 
nations  visited  will  add  much  to  your  enjoyment  of  their 
present.  The  traveler  who  visits  Japan,  Ceylon,  or  India, 
without  having  first  acquainted  himself  with  the  leading 
events  in  their  past — events  which  did  so  much  to  shape 
their  subsequent  national  career,  will  see  nothing  and  be 
interested  in  nothing  except  what  falls  within  the  scope  of 
his  immediate  observation,  and  more  than  half  the  interest 
which  he  would  otherwise  feel  will  be  lost.    Much,  also  will 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  399 

be  added  to  the  appreciation  of  the  tour  by  reading  of  the 
experiences  of  others.  In  them  you  will  find  many  sug- 
gestions concerning  the  most  attractive  points  within  reach 
of  the  tourist,  and  the  most  available  means  of  reaching 
them.  You  will  also  find  varied  entertainment,  instruct- 
ive as  well  as  pleasant,  in  comparing  their  impressions 
with  your  own. 

These  are  the  first,  but  by  no  means  the  most  import- 
ant, suggestions  which  I  can  make.  Others  may  be 
grouped  together  without  special  reference  to  their  value, 
though  all  will  be  found  of  prime  utility,  and  enable  you 
to  avoid  some  of  the  many  annoyances  that  constantly 
beset  travelers  in  strange  lands.  Do  not  find  fault  with 
the  religions  or  the  religious  ceremonies  of  the  people 
with  whom  you  are  thrown  into  contact.  You  have  no 
business  with  either.  Besides,  it  is  more  than  probable 
that  your  theories  of  religion,  and  your  manner  of  paying 
devotions,  seem  just  as  absurd  to  them  as  theirs  do  to 
you.  You  will  feel  that  the  Buddhists  of  Japan  and  the 
Brahmins  of  India  are  heathens.  They  are  just  as  firmly 
convinced  that  the  Christians  are  unregenerate  barbar- 
ians. Each  has  an  inalienable  right  to  his  opinion,  and 
should  be  allowed  to  enjoy  it  undisturbed.  And  here 
permit  me  to  remark  parenthetically,  that  if  you  visit 
Japan,  Ceylon,  or  India  expecting  to  find  the  natives  un- 
sophisticated children  of  barbarism,  you  will  discover 
your  mistake  after  you  have  paid  perhaps  dearly  for  the 
information.  If  you  desire  to  enjoy  the  best  facilities  for 
examining  the  temples  and  gods,  you  will  find  that  an 
assumption  of  veneration  and  humility  will  aid  you  mate- 
rially. A  traveler  who  is  not  willing  to  play  the  role  of 
hypocrite  as  a  means  of  leading  to  the  satisfying  of  his 
curiosity,  had   better  stay   at  home.      By   following    my 


400  WHAT  I  SAW, 

advice  in  this  regard,  you  will  be  enabled  to  penetrate 
many  places  that  arc  usually  hidden  from  travelers,  and 
to  see  much  that  is  ordinarily  withheld  from  tourists. 

Remember,  in  all  places,  and  under  all  circumstances, 
that  you  are  a  gentleman.  Do  not  absorb  the  too  com- 
mon idea  that  these  barbarians  can  not  distinguish  be- 
tween gentility  and  boorishness.  They  can  recognize  with 
astonishing  celerity  the  kind  considerateness  that  distin- 
guishes the  gentleman,  and  are  not  slow  to  respond. 
Always  keep  your  temper.  In  China  you  will  be  called 
"foreign  devils"  and  other  pet  names  not  down  in  your 
vocabulary  of  endearing  terms,  but  it  does  not  necessarily 
follow  that  you  should  be  incited  to  play  a  leading  role  in 
a  riot  because  of  it.  Take  it  easy,  and  content  yourself, 
as  I  did,  with  anathematizing  the  beastly  Mongolians  at 
your  leisure,  where  it  may  possibly  be  more  effective. 
In  Japan,  do  not  become  impatient  with  what  appears  like 
the  impertinent  inquisitiveness  of  the  natives.  The  chances 
are  that  you  are  just  as  much  of  a  curiosity  to  them  as  they 
are  to  you,  and  they  have  an  equal  right  to  gratify  that 
curiosity.  The  Japanese  you  will  find  the  pleasantest, 
most  accommodating,  and  most  reliable  of  any  people 
whom  you  will  encounter  in  your  tour.  In  Ceylon,  the 
natives  are  kind  and  obliging,  but,  in  business  matters,  as 
unreliable  as  a  Connecticut  deacon  in  a  horse  trade.  They 
will  swindle  you  badly,  and  laugh  merrily  over  your 
"verdancy."  The  Hindoos  you  Mill  also  find  courteous 
and  obliging,  but  there  is  a  suspicion  of  treachery  of 
which  the  traveler  in  India  finds  it  difficult  to  disabuse 
his  mind.  He  is  not  likely  to  encounter  this  perfidy  in 
his  intercourse  with  the  natives,  but  the  dark  pages  of 
Indian  history  are  ever  fresh  In  his  mind,  and  he  ex- 
periences a  constant   constraint  while  in  their   presence. 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  401 

He  should  endeavor  to  avoid  this  as  far  as  possible. 
Some  of  the  most  companionable  and  serviceable  people 
we  met  in  our  travels  were  native  Hindoos.  It  can  not 
be  denied,  however,  that,  as  a  people,  their  hatred  of  the 
English  is  deep-seated  and  intense.  The  lower  classes  look 
upon  all  English-speaking  people  as  Englishmen,  and  for 
this  reason  Americans  are  often  made  to  share  their  prej- 
udice; but  the  consideration  shown  by  the  educated  upper 
classes  to  Americans  is  spontaneous  and  genuine. 

As  I  have  frequently,  in  the  preceding  pages,  taken 
occasion  to  remark,  the  English,  as  a  class,  are  the  most 
disagreeable  people  in  the  world — the  only  people  who  are 
disagreeable,  apparently,  from  pure  love  of  offensiveness, 
and  by  reason  of  their  almost  universal  assumption  of 
superiority  to  the  rest  of  mankind.  You  will  find  En- 
glishmen and  Chinamen  everywhere.  The  peculiarities  of 
the  former  you  should  school  yourself  to  endure;  the 
latter  do  not  tolerate  for  a  moment;  shun  them  as  you 
would  the  cholera  or  the  yellow  fever.  Remember,  I 
speak  of  the  English  as  a  people.  You  will  find  many 
notable  and  praiseworthy  exceptions,  whose  social  virtues 
become  conspicuous  by  contrast. 

To  any  one  contemplating  the  circumnavigatory  tour, 
I  would  say  further:  Arrange  your  time  of  departure  and 
sojourn  in  Japan  so  as  to  reach  Singapore  not  earlier  nor 
later  than  the  middle  of  November.  This  will  enable  you 
to  spend  the  Winter  In  the  tropics,  closing  the  Nile  trip 
about  the  first  of  March.  In  this  way  you  will  avoid  the 
intense  and  frequently  fatal  midsummer  heat  of  Ceylon 
and  India. 

A  word  regarding  the  expense.  Under  this  head  I 
enumerate  only  what  I  consider  the  absolutely  necessary 
disbursements  of  the  tour  of  ten  months.  Unfortunately, 
our  trip   was   largely   curtailed    by   circumstances   beyond 

26 


402  WHAT  I  SAfT 


our  control,  but  I  include  the  expenses  of  that  which  was 
needed  to  fully  complete  our  travels  : 

New  York  to  California, $150  00 

California  to  Japan, 250  00 

Japan  to  China, 50  00 

China  to  Singapore, 100  00 

Singapore  to  Ceylon, 50  00 

Ceylon  to  Calcutta, 50  00 

Bombay  to  Aden, 100  00 

Aden  to  Suez, 100  00 

The  Nile,  First  Cataract  and  return, 250  00 

Egypt  to  the  Holy  Land,  Constantinople  and  Athens 

to  Italy, 300  00 

Travels  in  India,  thirty  days, 200  00 

Sixty  days  in  Europe, 200  00 

Londonderry  to  New  York, 80  00 

Two  hundred  days'  hotel  bills,  at  $2  per  day,    ...  400  00 

Curiosities,  relics,  etc., 200  00 

Total, $2,480  00 

Therefore  I  conclude  that,  excluding  the  liability  to 
accident  or  delay,  the  tour  of  the  world  can  be  pleasantly, 
profitably,  and  safely  made  for  twenty-five  hundred  dol- 
lars. In  this  statement  I  have  taken  no  note  of  the  num- 
berless temptations  to  spend  money,  which  the  traveler  is 
liable  to  withstand  but  feebly.  These  matters  each  tourist 
can  best  arrange  for  himself. 

I  do  not  feel  like  finally  closing  this  narrative  of 
travel  without  returning  our  sincere  thanks  to  the  legion 
of  kind  friends  who  bade  us  a  hearty  God-speed  on  our 
departure,  and  greeted  our  return  with  the  most  cordial 
congratulations.  The  form  assumed  by  these  greetings  is, 
perhaps,  best  detailed  by  a  brief  excerpt  from  the  columns 
of  the  Bucyrus  Forum  of  March  31,  1882: 

"  WELCOME  HO]\IE." 

The  arrival  home  from  their  tour  around  the  world  of  Loring 
Converse  and  wife  was  made  the  occasion  of  one  of  the  most  pleas- 
ant entertainments  in  the  social  history  of  Bucyrus,  one  that  was  at 
once  complimentary  to  the  guests  and  reflected  the  sentiments  of 
affection  that  have  long  held  a  place  in  the  hearts  of  their  legion  of 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  403 

friends.  The  travelers  arrived  on  tlie  evening  train  from  the  East 
on  Monday,  and  were  met  at  the  depot  by  a  large  concourse  of 
neighbors  and  friends,  who  formed  an  informal  procession,  and, 
headed  by  the  Bucyrus  band,  escorted  them  to  their  home,  at  the 
corner  of  "Walnut  and  Warren  Streets,  which  had  been  taken  pos- 
session of  by  the  lady  friends,  of  Mrs.  Converse  and  jirepared  for 
their  reception.  From  the  door  Mr.  Converse  made  a  few  remarks, 
thanking  those  present  for  the  cordiality  of  their  reception  and  bid- 
ding them  good-night. 

The  formal  ceremonies  were  difTerent,  however,  and  invitations 
were  issued  for  a  reception  and  banquet  at  the  Deal  Plouse  on 
Thursday  evening.  The  responses  were  numerous,  and  about  one 
hundred  persons  seated  themselves  at  ten  o'clock  to  a  sumptuous 
supper.  The  first  half  hour  was  devoted  to  gustatory  exercises, 
mingled  with  commendations  of  the  genial  landlord  and  liis  worthy 
lady,  Mrs.  Elliott,  whose  facilities  had  proven  so  abundantly  equal 
to  the  occasion. 

This  part  of  the  programme  having  been  concluded,  Major 
Williston,  acting  as  Master  of  Ceremonies,  introduced  S.  R.  Harris, 
Esq.,  who  delivered  a  brief  but  aj^propriate  address  of  welcome  to 
the  guests  of  the  evening.     He  spoke  substantially  as  follows: 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen : — "We  are  assembled  this  evening  to  accord 
to  one  of  our  fellow-citizens  a  reception  from  the  toils,  the  j^ileas- 
urcs,  the  excitements,  and  dangers  of  foreign  travel ;  to  demonstrate 
that  whilst  he  and  tlie  loved  one  who  shared  his  experiences  were 
in  distant  lands,  whether  in  the  mountains  and  valleys  of  Europe, 
among  the  ruined  castles  of  the  Middle  Ages ;  whether  climbing 
Alpine  heights  or  surveying  the  pastoral  plains  of  Andalusia; 
whether  luxuriating  among  the  palms,  tasting  luscious  tropical 
fruits,  inhaling  the  aromatic  breezes  of  Arabia,  or  imperiling  their 
lives  on  stormj-  seas,  friends  at  home  were  waiting  with  solicitude 
for  the  happy  hour  which  has  now  arrived,  when  we  meet  them 
hale  and  hearty,  and  face  to  face. 

There  is  something  so  enticing  in  travel  that  thousands  who 
have  not  the  time  or  means  to  indulge  themselves,  take  a  deep 
interest  in  perusing  the  descriptive  productions  of  those  who  do 
engage  in  it.  The  pleasure  is  still  more  heightened  when  we  read 
the  literarj'  contributions  of  a  personal  frientl  and  fellow-citizen. 

The  history  of  the  past  teaches  us  that,  while  warriors  have 
deluged  the  world  with  blood,  and  sought  only  the  goal  of  their  too 
often  selfish  ambitions,  and  savants,  secluded  in  the  depths  of  their 
studies,  have  delved  in  the  hidden  mysteries  of  nature  and  brought 
forth  the  long  hidden  secrets  of  science,  it  is  the  travelers  who  live 
longest  in  the  memories  and  the  gratitude  of  those  who  find  their 
greatest  and  most  profitable  happiness  in  following  the  footsteps  of 
those  who  have  developed  the  resources  of  the  world. 

In  conclusion,  I  but  speak  the  sentiments  of  very  many  when 


404  WHAT  I  SA  W,  AND  HOW  1  SA  W  IT. 

I  welcome  ^Nlr.  Converse  and  his  estimable  wife  to  the  home  of  their 
youth,  to  the  society  of  life-long  friends,  to  the  festivities  of  the 
present  evening;  and,  in  the  language  of  the  immortal  Rip  Van 
Winkle,  "may  they  live  long  and  prosper." 

In  response,  Mr.  Converse  feelingly  returned  his  thanks  to  the 
assemblage,  and  detailed  some  of  his  experiences  in  Japan  and 
other  lands,  in  a  manner  that  gave  renewed  evidence  of  his  keen 
observation  and  full  appreciation  of  the  many  curious  sights  and 
strange  experiences  encountered. 

This  concluded  what  might  be  termed  the  formal  exercises,  and 
in  response  to  calls,  brief  remarks  of  a  congratulatory  and  often  hu- 
morous character  were  made  by  several  gentlemen.  Revs.  Mather 
and  Bauslin  and  Messrs.  Finley,  Clymer,  and  Eaton  were  particu- 
larly happy  in  their  remarks,  and  throughout  the  evening  the  best 
of  feeling  prevailed. 

In  response  to  a  further  demand,  Mr.  Converse  spoke  briefly 
of  his  trip  up  the  Red  Sea,  and  his  impressions  of  the  surroundings 
of  the  historical  spot  where  Moses  led  the  Israelitish  hosts  across 
the  sea,  taking  occasion  at  the  same  time  to  repeat  what  he  had 
said  in  his  letters  regarding  the  disgust  from  which  the  travelers 
suffered,  through  disappointment  of  being  unable  to  reach  Egypt 
and  the  Holy  Land. 

]\Irs.  Converse,  from  the  fullness  of  a  grateful  heart,  returned 
thanks  to  the  company,  declaring  that  of  all  her  happy  hours  this 
was  indeed  the  happiest.  She  was  greeted  by  the  assembly  with 
round  after  round  of  continued  applause. 

The  hands  on  the  clock  had  passed  the  noon  of  night  when 
the  company  arose  from  the  table,  and  sought  their  homes. 


(SUBA   AND   (DeXIGO. 


I. 


Through  the  South  to  Cuba — Effects  of  the  War  upon  the 
Southern  Country  and  its  People — In  Florida — Voyage  upon 
the  St.  John's  River— Visit  to  a  Negro  Church — Distin- 
guished Fellow  Passengers — Grant's  Reception  at  Havana. 

Havana,  Cuba,  January,  1880. 

A  flying  trip  through  the  Southern  States,  from  Cincinnati  to 
Nashville,  Chattanooga,  Atlanta,  Macon,  etc.,  while  not  devoid  of 
interest  to  the  traveler,  presents  few  features  that  have  not  become 
familiar  to  the  most  casual  reader.  The  late  war,  its  causes,  progress 
and  results,  still  remains  the  great  theme  of  conversation.  The  gen- 
eral feeling  is  one  of  resignation,  a  willingness  to  accept  the  inevit- 
able Avith  the  best  grace  possible,  and  to  exert  every  effort  in  the 
attempt  to  rebuild  the  prosperity  that  was  sacrificed  in  the  madness 
of  attempted  revolution.  This  class  compose  much  the  larger  portion 
of  the  Southern  people,  the  reasoning  element,  and,  I  find,  numbers 
among  its  members  ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred  who  fought 
for  the  cause  of  the  Confederacy.  An  important  factor  in  this  re- 
habilitation, and  one  perhaps  more  influential  than  all  others  com- 
bined, is  the  immigration  of  Northern  energy,  skill,  and  capital.  At 
every  point  in  our  travels,  from  Louisville  to  Key  West,  evidences 
of  the  advantages  accruing  were  apparent.  Nashville  is  almost  a 
Northern  city ;  Chattanooga  wholly  so.  Atlanta  has  been  largely 
rebuilt  with  Northern  capital,  and  her  phenomenal  prosi^erity  is 
creditable  largely  to  Northern  energy  and  business  capacity.  In  the 
iron  and  coal  regions  of  Northern  Alabama,  an  interest  has  been 
developed  which  promises  to  transform  the  once  barren  and  uni^ro- 
ductive  wastes  into  a  vast  hive  of  busy  and  thriving  trade.  New 
cities  and  towns  have  sprung  up,  and  the  natives  find  more  profit 
if  less  pleasure  in  driving  the  busy  wheels  of  trade  than  superin- 
tending the  details  of  a  neglected  plantation,  cultivated  by  negroes. 
The  day  is  not  far  distant  when  the  Southern  people  will  look  upon 
the  war  as  a  blessing.  Slavery  could  never  have  been  abolished 
except  by  the  sword,  but  abolition  was  necessary  to  the  develop- 
ment and  progress  of  the  Southern  States. 

407 


408  WHA  T  1  SA  W, 

Freedom  to  the  slave  seems  to  have  benefited  every  one  but  the 
slave  himself.  Previous  to  the  war  I  traveled  much  through  the 
South,  and  then  formed  the  opinion  which  1  have  never  found 
reason  to  revise,  that  slavery  was  a  curse  to  every  one  but  the  slave. 
When  the  traveler  through  the  Southern  States  to-day  compares  the 
dirty,  lazy,  ragged,  and  thriftless  myriads  of  negroes  wliicli  lie  finds 
crowding  the  streets  of  the  cities  and  towns,  where  they  exert  them- 
selves mainly  in  supporting  the  sunny  side  of  a  brick  wall,  his  mind 
involuntarily  reverts  to  "those  good  old  days"  when  the  negroes  to 
be  met,  though  slaves,  were  sleek,  hearty,  well-fed,  and  comfortably 
dressed,  without  a  care,  with  every  reasonable  want  provided  for, 
and  oppressed  only  by  the  withholding  of  that  too  often  over- 
estimated and  more  frequently  abused  blessing,  personal  freedom. 
There  are,  of  course,  exceptions  to  the  wretchedness  and  squalor 
that  prevails  among  the  negroes  of  the  South,  just  as  there  are  ex- 
ceptions to  all  recognized  rules;  but  I  venture  the  assertion,  based 
upon  observation,  that  there  are  not  ten  thousand  negroes  in  the 
Soutli  to  whom  freedom  has  proven  a  blessing. 

Our  route  took  us  to  Savannah,  and  thence,  by  de\'ious  mean- 
derings  through  Florida,  to  Cedar  Keys,  and  thence  to  Key  West, 
from  whence  the  distance  to  Havana  is  but  a  few  hours  by  steamer. 
Savannah  is  a  beautiful  city,  with  elegant  wide  and  well  shaded 
streets,  and  altogether  having  an  appearance  of  solid  wealth  and  Ixix- 
ury,  but  to  a  great  extent  devoid  of  the  bustling  activity  indicative 
of  commercial  progressiveness.  The  citizens  are  evidently  in  the 
enjoyment  of  a  degree  of  comfort  from  which  they  can  not  be  drawn 
by  roseate  pictures  of  a  possible  future.  Savannah  suflTered  but 
little  from  the  war ;  that  is,  it  escaped  the  disastrous  consequences 
that  pressed  so  heavily  upon  its  neighbors,  Charleston  and  Atlanta. 

Our  first  Sunday  away  from  home  was  spent  in  Savannah,  and 
a  more  peaceful,  quiet  observance  of  the  day  could  not  l>e  found 
even  in  New  England.  The  citizens  seem  to  be  largely  church-going 
people,  and  the  streets  are  as  quiet  as  those  of  a  country  village. 

We  left  by  coast  steamer  for  Fernandina,  Florida,  after  a  so- 
journ in  Savannah  of  three  days.  The  coast  south  is  composed  of 
a  myriad  of  islands,  large  and  small,  and  through  these  the  steamer 
picked  its  devious  way  for  a  distance  of  perhaps  two  hundred  miles. 
Although  it  was  January,  we  realized  that  we  were  approaching  the 
tropics,  the  heat  being  at  times  intense,  and  the  temperature  never 
low  enough,  even  during  the  nights,  to  make  more  than  a  light  coat 
necessary  for  comfort.  This  short  excursion  from  Savannah  to  Fer- 
nandina carried  us  through  a  veritable  paradise  for  hunters,  the  air 
sometimes  being  absolutely  darkened  by  the  flight  of  countless  thou- 


AND  HOW  I  SA  ir  IT.  409 

sands  of  wild  duck  and  other  winged  game.  Under  such  circum- 
stances, however,  I  expect  hunting  loses  its  zest.  To  be  attractive 
sport,  the  hunting  and  the  finding  of  game  must  not  run  so  nearly 
upon  the  same  plane.  There  can  not  be  much  sport  in  bagging 
fowl  when  no  skill  is  required,  and  all  the  hunter  has  to  do  is  to 
raise  his  gun  and  fire,  assured  that  bj'  no  possible  accident  can  he 
fail  to  secure  from  one  to  half  a  dozen  birds.  This  weather,  the 
very  perfection  of  pleasantness  to  us,  is  "the  dead  of  Winter."  It 
is  not  often  that  frost  visits  this  section,  and  should  one  appear,  it 
is  placed  upon  the  meteorological  record  of  the  "oldest  inhabitant" 
as  a  "red-letter"  day.  As  for  snow,  such  a  thing  is  never  dreamed 
of  except  in  the  form  of  news  from  other  sections.  There  are  thou- 
sands of  people  in  Southern  Georgia  and  Florida  who  never  saw 
snow,  and,  were  it  not  for  the  specimens  brought  from  the  North 
and  sold  for  from  five  to  eight  cents  per  pound,  would  have  no  idea 
of  the  appearance  of  ice. 

On  the  second  day  after  leaving  Savannah,  we  arrived  at  Fer- 
nandina,  remaining,  however,  but  a  day,  when  we  started  to  view 
the  sights  in  a  trip  of  three  hundred  miles  up  the  St.  John's  River. 
Jacksonville,  the  metropolis  of  the  State,  is  an  elegant  little  city, 
with  wide  and  tastefully  shaded  streets,  and  the  many  other  evi- 
dences of  care  and  taste  upon  the  part  of  the  citizens,  which  com- 
bined give  to  a  town  an  air  of  attractiveness  that  can  not  be  over- 
looked. This  is  the  midst  of  the  garden  of  the  South,  where  the 
orange  and  other  tropical  fruits  grow  in  luscious  profusion. 

In  passing  up  the  river,  we  saw  many  specimens  of  amphibious 
creatures,  indigenous  to  the  semi-tropics.  The  alligators  were  not 
either  so  plentiful  or  so  lively  as  I  expected  to  see  them.  The 
natives  told  us  they  were  chilled  by  the  cold  water.  Some  we 
saw,  however,  stretched  upon  the  sandy  banks,  apparently  enjoying 
the  rays  of  the  sun  as  it  only  can  be  enjoyed  by  an  alligator  and  a 
nigger.  Several  amateur  sportsmen  on  board  the  boat  amused  them- 
selves shooting  at  the  languid  saurians,  but  the  effect  was  not  in 
many  instances  noticeable. 

For  most  of  the  distance  up  to  Palatka,  each  side  of  the  river  is 
lined  with  orange  groves,  and  the  revenue  from  the  fruit  must  be 
immense.  Most  of  these  orchards  are  owned  by  Northern  capital- 
ists, who  spend  the  Winters  here ;  but  they  are  cared  for  mostly  by 
natives,  often  trusty  colored  persons,  but  more  frequently  by  white 
people.  We  visited  several,  as  well  as  a  number  of  banana  or- 
chards. The  banana  tree  grows  about  twenty  feet  high,  and  the 
fruit  ripens  every  month. 

Fortunately  for  visitors  to  Florida,  the  diet  is  usually  confined 


410  WHAT  I  SAW, 

to  vegeta)>les  and  fruits.  These  are  abundant  and  of  the  best  quality. 
Meats,  unless  brought  from  the  North,  are  of  the  very  poorest  kind, 
such  as  would  test  the  a])ility  of  the  strongest  digestive  organs. 
The  native  cattle  are  the  poorest  of  poor  '*  scrubs,"  weighing  not 
more  than  four  or  five  hundred  pounds,  and  so  devoid  of  flesh  that 
they  would  be  shunned  by  a  coyote. 

Our  route  took  us  down  the  river  from  Palatka  to  Jacksonville 
again,  where  we  remained  one  day,  and  took  tiie  train  for  Cedar 
Keys,  distant  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  miles  to  the  westward. 
The  country  en  route  is  very  sparsely  settled.  We  could  not  divine 
any  attraction  in  the  appearance  of  the  land.  For  the  most  part  it 
is  low,  marshy,  and  very  poor.  "The  poor  white  trash"  of  the 
South,  have,  however,  a  faculty  for  living  and  securing  an  amount 
of  comfort  where  other  i)eople  would  starve.  Such  tenacity  to  an 
utterly  useless  and  wholly  joyless  life  I  have  never  seen  equaled. 
These  sallow-faced  and  yellow-haired  "squatters"  are,  like  "razor- 
backed" hogs,  indigenous  to  the  South,  and,  like  poor  people  every- 
where, sedulously  obey  the  divine  injunction,  "multiply  and  re- 
plenish the  earth."  Babies  are  the  principal  production,  and  the 
native  "cracker's"  pride  can  readily  be  measured  by  the  size  of  his 
half-naked  family. 

Cedar  Keys  we  found  a  quiet  little  town  on  the  gulf  shore. 
Our  hotel  was  built  of  boards  placed  perpendicularly,  and  white- 
washed inside  and  out,  the  interstices  in  the  walls  warranted  to  ex- 
clude any  animal  larger  than  a  rat.  As  the  weather  was  very  warm, 
we  appreciated  the  ventilation,  but  wept  tears  of  rage  when  at- 
tacked by  the  mosquitoes,  and  found  ourselves  without  means  of 
defense.  While  waiting  at  Cedar  Keys  for  the  vessel  which  was  to 
convey  us  to  Cuba,  Sunday  intervened,  and  we  embraced  the  oppor- 
tunity for  visiting  a  colored  church.  The  occasion  was  one  which 
will  long  be  remembered.  The  building  was  constructed  of  rough 
boards,  innocent  of  paint,  whitewash,  or  other  worldly  embellish- 
ment. As  we  entered  the  services  were  about  to  commence,  and 
were  evidently  interrupted  bj'  our  unexpected  arrival.  We  were 
politely  shown  to  an  eligible  seat  near  the  pulpit,  which  was  lo- 
cated in  a  recess  about  six  bj'  four  feet  in  size,  much  as  the  portion 
of  the  edifice  set  apart  for  the  minister  is  in  other  and  more  preten- 
tious churches.  The  preacher  was  a  fair  specimen,  in  appearance, 
of  what  they  call  in  the  Southern  States,  a  "field  hand,"  a  great, 
burly,  broad-shouldered  fellow,  with  an  arm  like  a  trip-hammer, 
and  a  voice  that  would  have  shamed  into  quiescence  the  traditional 
"Bull  of  Bashan."  We  attended  with  the  expectation  of  being  en- 
tertained rather  than  edified,  and  we  were  not  disappointed.    What 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  411 

the  preacher  lacked  in  forensic  skill  and  oratorical  polish,  was 
abundantly  compensated  for  by  an  earnestness  and  evident  sin- 
cerity.   He  began  the  services  by  "lining  out"  that  good  old  hymn, 

"  Am  I  a  soldier  of  the  cross, 
A  follower  of  the  Lamb?" 

And  such  singing  it  has  seldom  been  my  fortune  to  hear!  As  the 
full,  round  notes  swelled  up  until  the  volume  filled  the  rustic  build- 
ing, and  went  forth  in  cadences  of  bewitching  harmony,  I  wondered 
if  the  words  of  praise  met  not  with  as  welcome  a  reception  at  the 
throne  of  the  Father  as  if  they  came  from  a  choir  of  hired  chor- 
isters, and  mingled  their  classic  completeness  with  the  deep-voiced 
tones  of  a  monster  organ. 

I  do  not  now  remember  the  text,  but  the  sermon,  the  lessons 
drawn  by  the  rustic  preacher,  altliough  clothed  in  homely  language, 
touched  the  hearts  of  the  hearers  and  led  them,  let  us  hope,  many 
steps  forward  in  the  "straight  and  narrow  path"  that  leads  to 
eternal  life,  as  surely  from  the  primitive  cabin  in  the  pine  groves  of 
Florida,  as  from  the  cushioned  and  carpeted  sanctuary  where  the 
rays  of  the  sun  are  toned  by  passage  through  stained-glass  windows, 
and  the  voices  of  the  worsliipers  are  attuned  in  accord  with  the 
formulas  of  prescribed  modes  of  worliip. 

Nevertheless,  there  were  some  features  of  the  service  so  unusual 
as  to  be  amusing.  When  the  minister  had  concluded  his  exhorta- 
tion, he  called  upon  "  Brudder  Ben  "  to  pray.  The  prayer  was  of 
peculiar  earnestness,  not  clothed  in  the  finest  language,  nor  devoid 
of  the  idioms  of  the  plantation  negro,  whose  metaphors  are  badly 
mingled,  and  whose  ideas  of  the  relations  existing  between  human- 
ity and  their  God  are  not  clearly  defined.  At  its  conclusion,  he 
asked  that  "Brudder  Sam"  should  "pass  de  hat."  Each  of  us  con- 
tributed his  mite,  but  some  of  the  individual  contributions  must 
have  been  the  smallest  the  currency  would  permit,  as  the  good 
brother  announced  that  the  aggregate  was  but  one  dollar. 

The  marshes  and  islands  in  the  neighborhood  of  Cedar  Keys 
are  a  veritable  paradise  for  sportsmen.  During  our  brief  sojourn  I 
chartered  a  skiff  for  a  brief  tour  through  the  islands,  having  em- 
ployed as  sailing-master  a  native  who  claimed  to  know  every  nook 
and  sand-bar  on  the  coast.  Like  most  other  guides,  he  developed 
into  a  tremendous  liar,  and  for  hours  was  kept  mainly  busy  wading 
out  and  pushing  our  crait  off"  the  bars  and  other  places  where  he 
had  run  us  aground.  But  we  enjoyed  the  excursion  immensely, 
and,  after  a  reasonably  thorough  exploration,  returned  to  our  hotel 
completely  rejuvenated,   and   with   appetites   that  even   craved  a 


412  WHAT  I  SAW, 

piece  of  Florida  beefsteak,  which  is  the  best  compliment  I  can  pay 
to  the  excursion. 

Previous  to  closing  this  brief  account  of  our  experiences  in 
FloritUi,  I  can  not  neglect  to  pay  a  compliment  to  her  people,  and 
to  the  peojile  of  the  whole  South  as  well,  for  their  uniform  kind- 
ness and  courteous  hospitality.  Usually  the  traveler  expects  no 
consideration  but  what  is  paid  for.  He  has  no  right  to  expect 
more,  and  in  most  countries  is  grievously  disappointed  if  he  does. 
In  the  South,  however,  it  is  different.  The  people  look  upon  you 
as  their  welcome  guest,  whom  it  is  a  privilege  to  honor,  and  their 
attentions  are  at  times  almost  burdensome.  Their  views  upon 
social  and  political  questions  are  never  thrust  upon  the  visitor,  but, 
should  he  insist  upon  an  expression,  he  will  find  a  choice  lot  of 
opinions,  which  the  people  are  willing  to  express,  and  abundantly 
able  to  maintain. 

We  left  Cedar  Keys,  January  20th,  and,  with  a  smooth  sea, 
breezes  as  balmy  as  June  in  the  North,  and  companionship  all  that 
could  be  desired,  arrived  at  Key  West  at  eight  o'clock  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  following  day.  There  is,  perhaps,  no  place  upon  earth 
that  requires  less  description  from  the  pen  of  a  traveler  than  Key 
West.  Imagine  a  long,  narrow  strip  of  land,  devoid  almost  of  vege- 
tation, and  a  straggling,  hap-hazard  village,  looking  as  though  it  had 
been  planted  by  a  hurricane,  peopled  by  refugees  from  Cuba  and 
negroes,  the  former  of  whom  are  devoted  wholly  to  the  manufac- 
ture of  cigars,  and  the  latter  to  keeping  upon  the  dark  side  of  the 
sun's  shadow,  as  in  consonance  with  the  prejudices  of  the  people, 
it  shifts  lazily  from  West  to  East.  That 's  Key  West,  or  at  least 
my  impression  of  it. 

From  Key  AVest  to  Havana  we  were  honored  with  the  company 
of  ex-President  Grant  and  party,  who,  like  ourselves,  were  entering 
upon  a  tour  of  Cuba  and  Mexico.  We  were  indebted  to  the  Ameri- 
can consul  at  Cardenas  for  an  introduction  to  General  Sheridan,  and 
lie  in  turn  made  us  acquainted  with  the  ex-President  and  wife.  I 
suppose  we  should  have  been  duly  impressed ;  but  speaking  for  my- 
self, I  must  confess  that,  if  any  particular  impression  was  made,  I 
have  forgotten  it.  Mrs.  Converse's  views  are  never  such  as  would 
fit  her  for  a  courtier.  jNIr.  Grant  seemed  to  be  surprised  that  I  did 
not  seek  an  office,  particularly  as  I  hailed  from  Ohio,  and  attempted 
a  sickly  repetition  of  that  stale  witticism  about  "  Ohio  men  "  that  I 
doubt  not  he  has  repeated  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe. 

Previous  to  this,  during  the  ex-President's  tour  of  the  world,  I 
have  read  much  of  his  travels,  and  been  thrilled  wdth  the  glowing 
accounts  given  in  the  newspapers  of  the  ovations  he  received.     I  can 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  413 

not  help  but  wonder  if  they  were  all  like  the  one  given  him  in 
Havana.  As  we  approached  this  port,  we  expected  to  hear  the  can- 
nons "peal  forth  their  glad  welcome,"  the  bells  ringing,  see  the  flags 
flying,  and  in  the  midst  of  all,  the  "  loud  acclaims"  of  the  multitudes 
as  the}'  shouted  a  "  hearty  welcome  to  the  hero  of  the  American 
war."  Such  extravagant  ideas  of  what  was  due  were  certainly  held 
by  the  ex-President's  party ;  for,  as  we  approached  ^Nloro  Castle,  the 
ancient  fortification  that  stands  at  the  entrance  to  the  harbor  as  grim 
and  silent  as  an  old  Castilian  sentinel,  Mrs.  Grant,  standing  just  at 
my  elbow,  exclaimed  to  a  friend :  "  Now,  look  for  the  cannons  to 
belch  forth  their  loud  thunder  I"  As  a  matter  of  fact,  which  I  much 
regret  to  record,  there  was  not  a  solitary  "  belch."  Every  thing  was 
as  silent  as  the  grave,  with  no  indications  of  a  reception  or  other 
demonstration  of  any  kind,  if  I  may  except  a  slightly  inci-eased 
crowd  at  the  landing  as  the  small  boat  containing  Grant  approached. 
These  were  evidently  attracted  entirely  by  curiosity.  They  looked  at 
him  as  coolly  and  calmly  as  a  child  would  a  strange  picture,  without 
a  shadow  of  enthusiasm  in  their  countenances. 

Moro  Castle,  the  principal  fortification  in  Spanish  America,  and 
perhaps  one  of  the  oldest,  stands  at  the  narrow  entrance  to  the  har- 
bor, and,  in  connection  with  a  strong  battery  opposite,  fully  com- 
mands the  passage.  The  Castle  occupies  a  position  upon  an  abrupt 
l^romontory,  perhaps  a  hundred  feet  high,  and  has  a  strength  of  wall 
and  armament  that  were  perhaps  almost  impregnable  fifty  years  ago; 
but,  with  the  improvement  in  naval  engines  of  war  since,  the  fort 
could  readil}^  be  knocked  into  a  chaotic  mass  in  less  than  a  week. 
It  is,  however,  the  pride  of  all  loyal  Cubans,  who  seem  to  fear  that, 
were  it  not  for  the  "  Castle  "  they  would  be  overrun  by  the  nations 
of  the  earth.  The  harbor  spreads  out  within  the  fortifications,  and 
is  said  by  navigators  to  be  one  of  the  safest  and  most  complete  in 
the  world. 

The  view  had  of  the  harbor  and  the  city  from  the  deck  as  our 
vessel  steamed  slowly  to  her  anchorage,  was  one  of  beauty  and  in- 
tense interest  to  a  stranger.  The  harbor  was  filled  with  vessels  from 
most  parts  of  the  world,  among  which,  as  elsewhere,  the  American 
flag  was  conspicuous  by  its  almost  entire  absence.  On  the  one  hand 
lay  the  city,  covering  a  low-lying  plain,  and  on  the  other  the  green 
hills,  dotted  over  with  the  villas  .of  the  wealthy  and  ease-loving  na- 
tives, rose  gradually  from  the  verge  of  the  water.  The  eye  was  glad- 
dened by  the  scene,  and  our  minds  received  a  pleasant  impression. 
from  this,  our  first  view  of  "  the  ever  faithful  isle." 


414  WHAT  1  SAW, 


II. 


The  Cubans  and  the  Spaniards — Havana  and  its  People — The 
Style  op  Architecture — The  Parks — A  Visit  to  the  Cathe- 
dral— The  Cuban  Hotels. 

Havana,  January  2j,  1880. 

What  New  York  is  to  America,  or  Paris  to  France,  Havana  is 
to  Cuba.  It  is  the  social  as  well  as  the  commercial  center  of  the 
island.  Here  is  located  the  government,  delegated  by  Spain  to 
watch  and  repress  the  spirit  of  independent  nationality  that  has 
frequently  during  the  past  quarter  of  a  century  bubbled  to  the 
surface,  and  given  the  "mother  country"  much  trouble.  It  may 
be  said  that  Havana  is  loyal,  but  it  is  not  the  loyalty  of  love ; 
rather  the  faithfulness  of  listless  indolence,  willing  rather  to  submit 
quietly  to  the  pressure  of  bonds  than  to  indulge  in  the  physical  and 
mental  exertion  necessary  to  inaugurate  a  revolution.  This  I 
fancy  to  be  largely  the  feeling  of  the  native  Culjans;  but  the  trav- 
eler sees  comparatively  few  Cubans  of  unmixed  blood  in  Havana. 
So  close  are  the  relations  between  the  natives  and  the  full-blooded 
Spaniards,  that  they  have  become  commingled,  and  form  a  race 
distinct  in  its  national  feelings  and  social  characteristics.  These  are 
firmly  loj'al  to  Sjiain,  and  will  doubtless  so  remain  until  such  time, 
certain  to  arrive,  wiien  Cuba  shall  become  independent.  The 
native  Cubans,  or  Creoles,  are  all,  or  nearly  all,  of  Spanish  descent, 
but  the  lines  of  nationality  are  here  even  more  clearly  drawn  than 
they  are  in  the  States  between  the  natives  and  foreign  born. 

The  city  of  Havana  was  formerly  surrounded  by  a  wall  and 
ditch,  which  has  within  the  past  few  years  been  removed.  The 
streets,  although  narrow,  are  well  macadamized,  and  cross  each 
other  at  right  angles.  There  are  no  sidewalks,  such  as  are  consid- 
ered indispensable  with  us.  In  some  places  there  is  a  narrow  and 
irregular  line  x>i  flagstones,  Avhich  are  level  with  the  carriage  ways, 
and  are  utilized  equally  by  pedestrians  and  vehicles.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  })ut  few  persons  walk  in  Havana,  and  sidewalks  would  be  of 
comparatively  little  use.     Every  body  rides,  the  vehicle  most  used 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  415 

being  that  distinctively  Cuban  carriage,  tlie  volanie.  It  is  seldom  a 
woman  of  respectability  so  discredits  herself  as  to  appear  on  foot  in 
the  street,  even  among  the  lowliest  classes. 

The  beauty  of  the  Cuban  ladies  is  of  world-wide  notoi'iety,  but 
to  my  eye  their  loveliness  is  too  much  of  the  spirituelle  variety. 
Tliey  are  so  delicate  appearing,  in  both  form  and  feature,  as  to  sug- 
gest the  idea  of  ornament  rather  than  use.  That  their  features  are 
handsome  can  not  be  gainsaid,  but  a  visitor  misses  that  buxom 
voluptuousness  and  evident  strength,  of  both  mind  and  body,  that 
distinguishes  most  American  ladies.  This  delicacy  and  appearance 
of  languor  and  listlessness  is,  I  have  no  doubt,  largely  due  to  the 
indolent  lives  they  lead,  that  of  mere  human  automatons,  devoid  of 
care,  and  equally  devoid  of  ambition..  Custonj,  that  inexorable 
social  law,  deprives  them  of  out-door  exercise,  and  I  have  been  led, 
partly  by  stories  often  told  me,  and  largely  by  observation,  to  the 
conclusion  that  their  mental  systems  find  their  greatest  enjoyment 
in  feeble  gossip  and  intrigues.  They  are  in  person  rather  below  the 
height  of  the  sex  in  America.  The  hair  is  always  black  and  abun- 
dant; the  complexion  a  light  olive,  but  wholly  lacking  the  slightest 
touch  of  healthful  rosiness  in  the  cheek;  the  eyes  match  the  hair  in 
color,  and  are  large  and  very  expressive,  with  an  irresistible  expres- 
sion, that  seems  to  draw  the  observer  closer.  There  is  but  one 
physical  exercise  for  which  the  Cuban  ladies  have  a  fondness,  and 
that  is  dancing.  For  this,  and  other  movements  combining  grace 
and  beauty,  they  are  peculiarly  fitted  by  nature.  Their  feet  are 
small,  their  forms  lithe  and  willowy,  and  certainly  no  more  exqui- 
sitely beautiful  sight  can  be  seen  anywhere  than  a  floor  filled  with 
these  fairy-like  creatures,  clad  in  the  whitest  of  muslins  and  laces, 
with  delicate  white-slippered  feet,  whirling  through  the  mazes  of  a 
voluptuous  waltz.  I  confess  it  made  my  age-cooled  blood  warm 
again,  and  caused  me  to  indulge  in  the  vain  wish  that  I  were  young 
once  more.  During  the  day  these  lovely  creatures  divide  their  time 
about  equally  between  light  sewing,  such  as  embroidery,  and  the 
siesta,  or,  as  we  practical  Americans  speak  of  it,  the  "afternoon 
nap."  It  is  possible  that  most  of  them  possess  the  rudiments  of  an 
education,  but  if  they  indulge  in  reading  of  any  kind  it  is  of  the 
lightest,  and  of  a  character  not  calculated  to  add  to  their  universally 
limited  stock  of  information.  In  the  evening,  when  the  air  has  been 
to  some  extent  cooled  by  the  sea  breezes,  they  call  their  volantes, 
and  in  vast  numbers  crowd  the  drives  in  and  about  the  city,  coquet- 
ting with  the  gentlemen  in  a  manner  so  flagrant  and  open  as  to 
shame  even  an  American  girl.  After  the  drive  and  an  hour  or  two 
spent  at  the   open  air  concert  in  the   Plaza  de   Armas,  comes  the 


416  WHAT  I  SAW, 

dance,  and  daylight  often  finds  them  still  engaged  in  the  revel  of 
dissipation.  This  is  the  almost  every  day  (and  night)  life  of  a  Cuban 
Creole  belle,  and  they  all  seem  to  be  belles. 

Perhaps,  the  curiosity  of  my  readers  may  have  been  aroused  by 
the  use  of  the  term  rolante.  It  is  a  vehicle  of  peculiar  but  by  no 
means  elaborate  construction,  which  1  believe  is  known  nowhere 
outside  of  Cuba.  It  has  two  wheels  of  light  build,  Ijut  great  dia- 
meter, only  one  seat,  placed  well  forward,  and  resting  as  much  upon 
the  shafts  as  on  the  wheels.  The  shafts  are  long,  and  are  occupied 
by  but  one  horse,  upon  which  the  driver  rides.  Do  not  fancy  that 
they  are  very  pleasant  to  ride  in.  As  with  our  American  sulky,  or 
gig,  the  motion  of  the  animal  is  too  readih^  transferred  to  the  occu- 
pants of  the  seat,  and  they  find  themselves  participating  in  the 
spasmodic  action  of  the  horse. 

The  prevailing  style  of  architecture  in  Havana  is  heavy  and 
soml)er,  of  little  beauty,  and  gives  to  the  buildings  an  appearance 
of  age  and  solidity.  The  dwellings  are  of  square,  unornamental  con- 
struction, standing  out  to  the  street,  and  almost  universally  built 
around  an  extensive  court  in  the  center.  Ui)on  this  court,  often 
embellished  with  rare  i)lants  and  cooling  fountains,  the  doors  and 
windows  of  the  houses  open.  This  court-yard  is  reached  from  the 
street  by  a  narrow  passage-way,  and  it  is  frequently  the  case  that 
this  is  the  only  means  the  dwelling  has  of  communicating  with  the 
street.  Tlie  lower  story  never  forms  a  part  of  the  dwelling  proper, 
but  is  usually  devoted  to  a  store-room  or  kitchen,  and  not  infre- 
quently to  the  purposes  of  a  stable.  From  the  court-yard  ascends  a 
wide  stair-case  to  the  corridor  above,  upon  which  all  the  rooms  open. 
The  dwelling  rooms  are  tastefully  and  sometimes  elaborately  orna- 
mented with  fresco  and  stucco.  The  floor  is  always  of  marble,  slate, 
or  tile.  Carpets  are  almost  unknown,  as  the  great  heat  of  the  cli- 
mate renders  them  uncomfortable.  This  form  of  building  the  dwell- 
ings which  I  have  described  is  a  relic  of  the  feudal  days,  when 
every  man's  house  was  literally  his  castle,  which  he  was  often  called 
upon  to  defend.  In  addition  to  the  building  being  built  around  an 
inner  court,  every  accessible  window  is  heavily  barred  and  every 
outside  door  made  bullet-proof.  Glass  windows  are  rare,  even  in 
the  cities.  The  windows,  where  they  open  upon  the  street,  project, 
and  are,  as  I  have  said,  heavily  barred  with  iron.  The  passer-by  on 
the  narrow  street  can  not,  even  if  he  desired,  avoid  seeing  much  of 
the  internal  economy  of  the  dwelling.  Sometimes  a  curtain  inter- 
venes, but  usually  the  air  is  allowed  free  circulation.  In  Cuba  the 
ideas  of  the  beneficial  effects  of  pure  air  are  much  more  advanced 
than  among  the  Americans.     On  the  inside  of  the  dwellings,  there 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  417 

are  few  doors,  curtains  alone  shutting  oft  communications  between 
rooms.  At  night  these  are  all  drawn,  and  air  permitted  to  circulate 
freely  through  all  parts  of  the  house.  In  the  cities  the  roofs  of  the 
houses  are  flat,  and  this  provides  a  space  that  during  the  day  is 
utilized  by  the  family  laundress,  but  in  the  evening  becomes  the 
point  of  family  reunion,  where  the  after-dinner  cigar  is  enjoyed,  in 
connection  with  the  cooling  breezes  blowing  from  the  Gulf. 

While  Havana  can  not  be  called  a  handsome  city  in  the  sense 
that  some  American  cities  are  handsome,  yet  it  has  features  of  suf- 
ficient attractiveness  to  draw  the  pleased  attention  of  the  visitor. 
There  are  numerous  well-arranged  squares,  shaded  by  palm  and 
orange  trees,  surrounded  by  luxuriant  hedges.  The  largest  and 
finest  of  these  parks  is  that  upon  which  fronts  the  Captain-Gen- 
eral's palace,  the  Plaza  de  Armas.  There  is  an  air  of  neatness  and 
care  about  this  square  that  seems  strange  and  incongruous  in  Cuba. 
It  is  surrounded  by  an  ornamental  iron  railing;  is  laid  out  in  beauti- 
ful walks,  bordered  with  flowers,  and  shaded  with  luxuriant  tropical 
trees.  In  the  center  is  a  large  fountain,  surmounted  by  a  marble 
statue  of  Ferdinand,  the  Spanish  king,  under  whose  auspices  Co- 
lumbus sailed  to  discover  America.  This  Plaza  is  the  resort  of  all 
classes,  Avho  come  to  enjoy  the  cooling  breezes  of  the  evening, 
mingle  in  social  conversation  and  amusements,  and  listen  to  the 
sweet  music  of  the  military  band  attached  to  the  palace.  I  know 
of  nowhere  on  earth  that  an  evening  can  be  so  pleasantly  if  per- 
haps not  profitably  spent.  If  the  visitor  is  tired  out  with  the  sight- 
seeing of  the  day,  here  he  can  find  rest  and  rejuvenation ;  if  he 
desires  to  study  the  capricious  and  volatile  characteristics  of  the 
Cubans,  here  they  are  to  be  seen  in  all  their  phases. 

Just  outside  the  former  walls  is  another  and  much  larger  park, 
known  as  the  Tacon  Paseo,  which  is  even  more  of  a  popular  resort 
than  the  Plaza.  It  is  perhaps  a  mile  in  length  and  half  as  wide, 
beautifully  laid  out  in  wide  walks  and  drives,  and  embellished  with 
an  unnumbered  variety  of  tropical  trees,  shrubs,  and  flowers.  Here 
is  located  the  principal  theater  of  the  city,  differing  somewhat  in 
inner  construction  from  those  in  America,  but  retaining  the  general 
formation  that  civilization  borrowed  from  the  ancient  Greeks  and 
Romans.  There  are  five  tiers  of  boxes  for  the  ladies,  which  are 
covered  in  front  with  lattice-work,  giving  the  poor  creatures  the  ap- 
pearance of  inbarred  prisoners. 

We  visited  the  Calle  de  Ignacio  Church,  better  known  as  the 
Cathedral  of  Havana.  It  is  not  remarkable  in  appearance,  and  its 
great  age  and  associations  alone  preserve  it  from  comparative  ob- 
scurity.   The  walls  of  stone  are  defaced  and  moss-grown,  and  it 

27 


418  WHAT  1  SAW, 

seems  to  the  observer  a  fitting  reflex  of  Spanish  rule  in  America — 
grand,  majestic,  and  apparently  substantial  in  its  inception,  it  has 
felt  and  suffered  from  the  attrition  of  centuries  of  decay,  until  to- 
day it  looks  to  the  traveler  more  like  a  gigantic  ruin  than  the  seat 
of  a  Spanish  cardinalate.  Upon  entering,  however,  this  evidence  of 
decay  is  not  so  apparent.  Magnificent  paintings  ad(jrn  the  walls, 
and  the  ceiling,  including  the  not  massive  dome,  are  embellished 
with  paintings  in  fresco. 

Before  closing  this  chapter,  I  can  not  forbear  to  speak  of  the 
Cuban  hotels,  and  particularly  the  manner  of  cooking.  The  luscious 
fruits  of  the  tropics,  which  grow  on  this  island  in  endless  variety 
and  profusion,  form  a  large  part  of  the  diet  of  every  one.  I  have 
been  told  that  they  can  be  eaten  by  all  with  impunity,  but  this  my 
own  experience  leads  me  to  doubt.  Already  I  have  found  occasion 
to  appeal  to  my  medicine  chest;  but  it  may  be  the  effects  of  a 
change  of  climate  and  water,  rather  than  the  fruit.  At  the  hotel 
where  we  are  stopping  there  is  but  one  interpreter,  and  he  remains 
in  the  business  department  of  the  establishment.  Our  ignorance  of 
the  Spanish  language  is  as  dense  as  if  we  had  never  heard  a  word 
of  it  spoken,  and,  as  a  consequence,  our  experience  in  the  dining- 
room  is  but  a  succession  of  discouraging  experiments. '  We  endeavor 
to  obey  tlie  injunction  of  the  apostle — to  eat  what  is  set  before  us, 
and  say  nothing  about  it  (or  words  to  that  effect),  but  with  many 
things  it  is  a  dismal  failure.  The  best  we  can  do  is  to  taste  each 
dish  in  succession,  until  we  find  one  that  is  not  wholly  unpalatable, 
and  satisfy  our  appetites  upon  that.  The  mode  of  cooking  is  not 
wholly  unlike  that  of  the  French,  though  garlic  (which  might  be 
called  a  national  Spanish  vegetable)  gives  to  every  thing  a  pre- 
dominating flavor.  I  sometimes  think  I  would  like  to  try  an  ex- 
periment with  a  Spaniard.  I  would  take  him  and  deprive  his 
stomach  for  a  month  of  that  highly  odorous  vegetable,  and  see  if 
he  would  n't  die.  All  dishes — fowl,  fish,  m^eat,  vegetables,  and 
soup — are  so  disguised  with  this  abominable  stuff  that  the  guest  is 
unable  to  determine  what  were  the  original  constituent  parts  of  the 
dish.  I  thought  that  perhaps  I  could  secure  something  palatable 
by  calling  for  oysters.  Patiently  I  examined  my  pocket  compen- 
dium of  Spanish  phrases,  and  found  the  word.  The  jiolite  but  de- 
generate Castilian  who  served  us  brought  in  some  pickled  oysters, 
that  looked  to  our  eyes  like  nothing  so  much  as  fricasseed  bumble- 
bees. I  tasted  them,  and  may  I  be  blessed  if,  although  they  bore  a 
Baltimore  brand,  they  too  did  not  have  garlic  in  'em.  Our  only  re- 
source, our  only  protection  against  starvation  or  an  undeviating 
fruit  diet,  is  to  learn  to  like  garlic. 


AND  HO W  I  SAW  IT.  419 


III. 


Mercantile  Havana — The  Market-men — Cuban  Marriages — Tem- 
perance IN  Liquor — The  Consumption  of  Tobacco — The  Dairy- 
men— The  National  Amusements — Bull  and  Cock  Fighting — 
A  Visit  to  the  Cemetery — The  Lottery — Cuban  Nobility. 

Havana,  January  2j,  1880. 

The  principal  retail  street  of  Havana,  where  are  located  all  the 
fashionable  stores,  is  known  as  the  Calle  de  Mercaderes,  and  the 
display  of  fine  goods,  in  such  lines  as  dry  goods,  notions,  jewelry, 
glassware,  etc.,  are  scarcely  inferior  to  that  seen  in  Broadway  or 
Chestnut  Street.  A  peculiarity  of  the  mercantile  business  is  that 
the  merchant  does  not  place  his  name  upon  the  sign,  but  each 
establishment  is  designated  by  a  chosen  title,  much  as  are  the  hotels 
and  saloons  in  the  States.  Here  before  us  is  the  "  Star;"  further  on 
the  "America,"  and  at  the  corner  of  the  next  square,  one  called 
"  Virtue."  The  last  name  is  as  much  of  a  novelty  in  Havana  as  it 
could  be,  perhaps,  in  any  civilized  city  on  earth.  The  merchants 
of  Havana  possess  all  the  business  peculiarities  that  with  us  are 
credited  to  the  Israelites.  On  entering  a  store  and  inquiring  the 
price  of  even  the  most  ordinary  article  of  merchandise,  the  figures 
given  will  surprise  the  purchaser,  and  tend  to  impress  him  unfa- 
vorably with  the  economy  of  living  upon  the  island.  Persistency  in 
the  determination  not  to  allow  himself  to  be  swindled  will,  how- 
ever, enable  him  to  close  a  bargain  at  reasonable  figures,  though 
the  chances  are  at  least  even  that  the  most  expert  buyer  will  find 
he  has  been  swindled,  even  after  he  has  procured  the  desired 
article  for  one-third  what  it  was  finst  offered.  Merchandise  in 
Havana  is  worth  about  the  same  as  in  New  York,  though  perhaps 
in  some  articles  tliere  is  a  slight  advance  upon  American  prices. 

A  feature  of  shopping  in  Havana  is  noteworthy.  The  ladies  of 
Cuba  are  as  devoted  to  this  accomplishment  as  their  American  sis- 
ters, and  apparently  derive  as  much  comfort  from  it.  They  drive 
up  to  the  door  of  the  store  in  their  volantee,  and  the  goods  are 
brought  out  to  them  for  their  inspection.     A  native  Cuban  lady 


420  WHAT  I  SAW, 

will  not  alight  from  her  carriage  and  enter  a  store  any  more  than 
she  would  permit  herself  to  be  seen  walking  upon  the  street.  The 
picture  presented  upon  the  street  I  have  named,  during  the  closing 
hours  of  the  day,  when  the  ladies  are  out  in  full  force  doing  their 
shopping,  is  novel.  Before  each  store  of  ])rominence  will  be  seen  a 
number  of  vcjlantes,  occu})ied  usually  by  two  bright-eyed  Cuban 
beauties,  while  a  bevy  of  shop-boys  are  busy  carrying  out  goods  for 
their  insjiection.  One  point  in  favor  of  the  Culjan  ladies  can  be 
noted.  They  usually  have  formed  a  reasonably  definite  idea  of 
what  they  want  before  calling  for  it,  and  purchases  are  readily 
made.  I  have  not,  during  our  stay  in  Havana,  witnessed  the  coun- 
terpart of  that  scene  so  common  in  all  American  stores,  where  a  lady 
customer  turns  half  the  stock  upside-down  before  concluding  to  pur- 
chase a  spool  of  thread. 

The  market-men  of  Havana  appear  to  be  a  distinct  class,  and 
possess  features  that  are  deser%'ing  a  passing  notice.  They  are 
usually  the  owners  of  a  few  acres  of  land  in  the  suburbs,  or  within 
a  few  miles  of  the  city,  which  they  cultivate  with  as  much  assiduity 
and  thoroughness  as  a  natural  predisposition  to  indolence  will  per- 
mit. Their  productions,  usually  vegetal)les  and  })oultry,  are  some- 
times brought  to  the  city  in  vehicles,  but  the  more  common  mode 
of  transportation  is  the  much-abused  donkey.  If  the  quantity  is 
great,  more  than  one  donkey  is  called  to  service.  The  proprietor  is 
mounted  upon  one,  almost  buried  beneath  a  mass  of  vegetables  and 
fowls.  To  the  tail  of  this  leader  is  attached  the  halter  of  the  sec- 
ond; to  its  caudal  appendage  is  hitched  the  third,  and  so  on  until 
the  cavalcade  is  complete.  The  view  of  such  a  cortege,  winding  its 
way  with  solemn  dignity  through  the  narrow  streets  of  Havana,  is 
one  that  appeals  strongly  to  the  observer's  sense  of  the  ludicrous. 
In  addition  to  the  family  supplies  thus  transported,  the  animals  are 
frequently  loaded  with  cornstalks,  hay,  or  straw,  and  the  innumer- 
able variety  of  articles  that  find  a  demand  in  the  markets  of  a  large 
city.  In  Havana  the  apostolic  aphorism,  "sufficient  unto  the  day 
is  the  evil  thereof,"  finds  its  most  practical  illustration.  Such 
providence  as  distinguishes  an  American  family  and  leads  them  to 
purchasing  supplies  in  large  quantities,  sufficient  to  supply  the 
needs  for  days  or  weeks,  is  unknown  among  the  Havanese.  The 
articles  needed  are  purchased  every  day.  Not  only  is  this  the  case 
with  the  table  supplies,  but  it  includes  the  needed  fuel  and  the 
hay,  grain,  etc.,  for  the  consumption  of  domestic  animals.  The 
marketing  is  universally  intrusted  to  a  negro  man  or  woman,  usu- 
ally a  slave,  and  they  purchase  in  such  quantity  as  may  be  required 
for  the  day,  and  exercise  their  own  judgment  in  the  matter  of 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  421 

variety.  Of  household  economy,  the  Cuban  ladies  know  absolutely 
nothing,  and  their  husbands  and  fathers  less,  if  possible.  Every 
thing  is  intrusted  to  a  steward  or  stewardess,  always  a  negro,  and 
in  most  instances  a  favorite  slave.  There  is  one  feature  that  com- 
mends the  retail  trade  in  Cuba.  All  purchases,  in  every  line,  are 
made  for  cash.  Retail  dealers  keep  no  books,  except  a  cash  book 
and  an  expense  account. 

These  market-men,  or  monteros,  as  they  are  called,  form  an  im- 
portant and  interesting  part  of  the  Cuban  population.  In  this  lat- 
itude the  human  fruit  ripens  early,  and  marriages  among  this  agri- 
cultural class,  are  solemnized  at  a  very  early  age,  the  boys  entering 
the  state  of  duality  when  from  sixteen  to  twenty  years  of  age,  and 
the  years  of  the  bride  often  do  not  exceed  thirteen.  They  enter  into 
the  business  of  married  life  with  commendable  alacrity,  and  it  is  no 
unusual  sight  to  encounter  a  girl  who  is  a  mother  at  fourteen. 
They  almost  universally  raise  large  families.  As  the  earliest  ma- 
tured fruit  soonest  decays,  so  these  young  mothers  at  the  age  of 
thirty  have  lost  all  their  freshness  and  bloom,  and  in  most  cases 
degenerated  into  decrepitude,  the  result  of  premature  decay.  An 
old  woman,  that  is,  one  old  in  years,  is  almost  unknown  in  Cuba, 
They  are  grandmothers  at  thirty,  and  look  upon  the  third  genera- 
tion of  tiieir  descendants  before  they  have  passed  the  half  century 
of  their  own  lives,  if  they  be  so  fortunate  as  to  live  that  lon^.  The 
traveler  in  tropical  countries  misses  those  hale  and  hearty  matrons 
of  sixty  or  seventy  years  that  give  a  charm  to  the  home  circle  in 
more  northern  latitudes. 

Other  writers  have  commended  the  Cul^ans  for  their  habits  of 
temperance,  and  I  desire  to  add  my  testimony.  There  is  not,  per- 
haps, a  people  in  the  world  who,  as  a  people,  indulge  so  sparingly 
in  intoxicating  liquors.  Even  the  lower  and  middle  classes,  while, 
perhaps,  willing  to  join  a  stranger  in  a  social  glass,  will  drink 
very  sparingly,  and  be  loath  to  repeat  it  before  the  expiration  of 
8ev*al  hours.  Wine  is  found  frequently  upon  the  tables  of  the 
wealthy,  but  it  is  partaken  of  only  in  limited  quantities,  fresh,  ripe 
fruit  taking  the  place  of  the  beverage  to  a  great  extent.  Temper- 
ance in  the  use  of  liquors  is  not,  however,  accompanied  by  temper- 
ance in  all  things.  The  Cubans,  perhaps,  to  a  greater  extent  than 
any  other  people  in  the  world,  are  addicted  to  the  use  of  tobacco, 
and  the  consumption  of  this  narcotic,  in  the  form  of  cigars  and 
cigarettes,  is  enormous.  Tobacco  chewing  is  almost  unknown,  but 
every  man,  woman,  and  child  on  the  island  seems  to  smoke.  It  is 
no  unusual  sight  to  see  a  lady,  while  enjoying  the  cooling  gulf 
breezes  on  the  veranda,  or  in  the  parlor,  drawing  the  inspiration  of 


422  WHAT  I  SAW, 

comfort  from  a  cigarette,  with  her  shapely  head  surrounded  by  a 
halo  of  deliciously  perfumed  smoke.  I  understand  this  practice  of 
open  and  public  smoking  by  the  ladies  has  been  discouraged  by  the 
later  decrees  of  Creole  society ;  but  still  the  siglit  I  have  mentioned 
is  not  so  unusual  as  to  be  novel  in  the  city  of  Havana.  I  have  seen 
little  children,  scarcely  past  the  age  of  eight  years,  with  cigars  in 
their  mouths,  and  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  luxury  of  a  smoke. 
As  to  the  men,  they  smoke  all  the  time.  In  business  houses,  at  the 
theaters,  in  their  homes,  they  are  hardly  ever  seen  without  a  cigar. 
I  have  seen,  in  a  cafe,  a  Cuban  gentleman  leisurely  eating  his  din- 
ner, while  in  his  right  hand,  or  lying  beside  his  i)latc,  was  the  inev- 
itable cigar ;  which,  at  intervals  of  every  few  bites,  he  would  place 
to  his  lips  and  draw  a  mouthful  of  smoke,  and  expel  it  through  his 
nostrils.  This  enormous  consumption  of  cigars  has  led  to  a  home 
demand  that  forms  tlie  foundation  of  the  immense  manufacture  in 
Cuba,  a  trade  that  exceeds  almost  every  other  industry  upon  the 
island  combined,  unless  it  be  that  of  the  manufacture  of  sugar. 
Pipes  are  not,  as  far  so  my  observation  extends,  used,  except  by  the 
slaves.  These  creatures,  men  and  women  alike,  usually  smoke  a 
heavy  clay  pipe,  charged  with  the  strongest  tobacco.  The  aroma  is 
not  as  delicate  and  as  soothing  to  the  olfactory  nerves  as  the  odor 
of  new-mown  hay.  In  fact,  they  "smell  to  heaven,"  and  discount 
the  most  odorous  "dhudeen"  that  ever  gave  peace  to  the  nerves 
of  a  son  of  the  Emerald  Isle. 

The  course  adopted  by  the  Cuban  dairy-man  in  supplying  his 
city  patrons  with  their  daily  modicum  of  milk,  is  one  of  the 
strange  sights  to  be  seen  in  the  streets  of  Havana.  The  cows  are 
brought  to  the  city  and  driven  from  door  to  door.  The  milkman, 
at  each  stopping  place,  deliberately  seats  himself  upon  his  stool 
and  milks  the  quantity  demanded  by  the  consumer,  delivers  it,  and 
drives  the  animal  on  to  the  door  of  the  next  customer.  There  are 
advantages  in  this  mode  which  the  consumers  probably  do  not 
overlook.  When  they  see  their  daily  supply  of  the  lacteal  luid 
drawn  from  the  udder  of  the  kine,  they  feel  an  assurance  of  its 
purity  that  is  not  vouchsafed  by  the  gayly  painted  wagons,  filled 
with  shining  cans,  that  serve  the  needs  of  town  and  city  con- 
sumers in  the  States.  The  Cuban  plan  insures  not  only  purity  but 
freshness,  and  is  to  be  commended  in  every  way.  The  supply  of 
milk  in  this  city  is  drawn  about  equally  from  goats  and  cows. 
The  former  are  driven  to  the  doors  of  customers,  the  same  as 
the  latter. 

There  are  two  amusements  in  Cuba,  which  might  almost  be  de- 
nominated national,  although  their  practive  in  America  would  bring 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  423 

down  upon  the  participators  the  vengeance  of  the  outraged  law,  re- 
enforced  by  the  vigorous  anathemas  of'  the  ultra  good  people,  who 
are  generously  mindful  of  other  people's  eternal  welfare.  I  refer  to 
cock-fighting  and  bull-fighting.  Sunday  is  the  day  usually  devoted 
to  the  latter,  while  any  day  and  any  hour  is  considered  appropriate 
for  indulgence  in  the  former.  The  cock-pits  are  more  numerous 
than  churches,  and,  I  have  reason  to  believe,  much  better  patron- 
ized. In  the  States  a  pit  is  usually  located  in  some  out-of-the-way 
barn  or  stable,  fitted  up  for  the  particular  occasion,  and  its  location 
scrupulously  guarded  from  the  public  knowledge.  Here  they  are 
an  established  institution,  and  are  visited  by  the  best  citizens,  in- 
cluding frequently  those  jolly,  rotund  priests,  who  can  umpire  a 
cock-fight,  conduct  a  funeral,  or  officiate  at  a  wedding  with  equal 
grace.  The  buildings  resemble  in  outward  appearance  nothing  more 
than  an  American  farmer's  straw-stack,  though  varying  in  size  from 
those  which  Avill  seat  scarcely  a  hundred  persons  to  those  that  will 
accommodate  a  thousand.  The  seats  are  arranged  in  amphitheater 
form,  rising  around  a  space  in  the  center  that  is  scarcely  ever  more 
than  twenty  feet  in  diameter.  Cock-fights  in  Cuba  are,  as  I  have 
said,  attended  by  the  best  citizens,  and  I  note  the  entire  absence  of 
the  unruly  classes  that  universally  coiiduct  such  affairs  in  the  States. 
At  least,  if  they  are  in  attendance,  they  do  not  make  their  presence 
known  by  the  unseemly  demonstrations  that  distinguish  the  Ameri- 
can "  sporting  man." 

I  have  not  witnessed  either  a  cock  or  a  bull  fight  in  Cuba,  but, 
as  "  an  open  confession  is  good  for  the  soul,"  I  may  as  well  admit 
that  it  has  been  wholly  by  reason  of  lack  of  opportunity.  There 
was  a  taurine  contest  yesterday,  but  I  was  so  unfortunate  as  not  to 
hear  of  it  until  it  was  all  over.  Otherwise,  I  should  have  been 
there.  I  know  this  is  awfully  wicked,  but  I  did  not  come  to  Cuba 
as  a  missionary,  nor  with  the  least  idea  that  the  visit  would  innjrove 
my  spiritual  condition.  I  came  here  for  amusement,  and  there  is  a 
lingering  suspicion  in  my  mind  that  I  could  find  a  reasonable  sup- 
ply from  which  to  replenish  my  stock  at  a  bull-fight.  That 's  why 
I  want  to  go,  and  that 's  why  I  am  going  if  I  ever  get  a  chance. 
This  is  not  a  very  comi:)rehensive  apology  for  my  wickedness,  but  I 
am  not  willing  to  play  the  hypocrite  by  endeavoring  to  concoct  a 
better  one.  The  arena,  where  the  bull-fights  patronized  by  the 
Havanese  are  conducted,  is  located  at  the  little  town  of  Regla,  just 
across  the  bay  from  the  city.  It  is  a  large  circular  inclosure,  with- 
out roof,  and  capable  of  seating  perhaps  six  thousand  people.  The 
seats  rise  one  above  another,  at  a  height  sufficient  to  render  the 
audience  secure  from  the  dangers  of  the  struggles  below.    The  arena 


424  WHAT  I  SAW, 

itself  occupies  a  space  of  perhaps  lialf  an  acre,  and  is  as  carefully 
scraped,  rolled,  and  hardenctl  as  a  race-track. 

There  is  to  me  a  peculiar  fascination  in  cemeteries,  and  when 
visiting  a  strange  city,  after  studying  as  minutely  as  circumstances 
will  permit,  the  modes,  manners,  etc.,  of  the  living  people,  I  love  to 
wander  through  the  i-esting  place  of  the  city's  dead.  A  burying- 
ground  is  really  not  a  bad  place  to  study  character,  perhaps  not  so 
much  of  the  dead  as  of  the  living.  The  fitness  of  a  people  for  an 
appreciative  enjoyment  of  the  blessings  of  civilization  is  nowhere 
more  fully  exemplified  than  in  their  cemetery.  Respect  for  the 
dead  is  one  of  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  human  enlighten- 
ment, and  neglect  is  a  certain  evidence  of  barbarism  amounting  al- 
most to  savagery.  The  cemetery  of  Havana  is  located  just  without 
the  former  walls  of  the  city,  and  directly  upon  the  sea-shore.  It  is 
api)roached  through  a  street  lined  with  the  most  miseraljly  wretched 
huts  of  the  poorer  classes,  which  gives  to  the  visitor  a  feeling  of  de- 
pression that  is  not  lessened  by  the  view  he  obtains  after  having 
passed  through  the  thick  wall  that  surrounds  the  ground,  and  wit- 
nessed the  scene  of  desolation  and  neglect  spread  before  his  eyes. 
The  wealthier  classes  are  not  buried  at  all,  but  the  bodies  are  placed 
in  apertures  in  a  wall,  resembling  notliing  so  much  as  the  old-fash- 
ioned bake-ovens.  "When  the  coffin  is  placed  in  position,  being 
simi>ly  shoved  into  one  of  these  pigeon-holes,  the  aperture  is  her- 
metically sealed.  The  process  is  very  simple,  and  has  many  fea- 
tures to  commend  it.  With  the  poorer  classes,  however,  the  dis- 
posal of  bodies  is  different.  If  the  friends  of  the  deceased  are  too 
poor  to  afford  a  "pigeon-hole,"  the  remains  are  thrown  hastily  into 
a  shallow  grave,  often  without  a  cofiin,  and  frequently  several  bodies 
in  the  same  excavation,  lime  being  sprinkled  upon  them  to  hasten 
decomposition.  There  is  apparently  no  system  observed  in  the  dig- 
ging of  these  graves,  and  often  the  dirt  thrown  up  from  a  fresh  ex- 
cavation is  mingled  with  the  partially  decomposed  remains  of  others 
previously  buried.  With  a  grimness  that  to  the  stranger  sounds  like 
satire,  the  Cubans  have  named  this  Golgotha  "  Campo  Santo,"  or 
sacred  ground.  The  visitor,  after  his  nostrils  have  been  greeted  by 
the  unmistakable  odor  of  putrefying  human  fiesh,  which  seems  at 
all  times  to  permeate  the  atmosphere,  is  apt  to  feel  little  confidence 
in  the  sacredness  of  the  place. 

One  of  the  institutions  of  this  city  is  what  is  known  throughout 
the  world  as  the  "  Royal  Havana  Lottery."  The  object  of  the  gov- 
ernment in  establishing  this  concern  was  evidently  twofold.  First, 
as  a  means  of  increasing  the  revenue,  and  second,  in  response  to  the 
irrepressible  penchant  of  the  people  for  gambling.     A  Spaniard,  and 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  425 

a  Cuban  as  well,  is  a  natural  born  gambler,  and  the  best  as  well  as 
the  Avorst  of  them  will  risk  their  last  penny  upon  a  chance.  The 
lottery  in  Havana  is  patronized  eciually  by  all  classes.  Tlie  leading 
mercantile  houses  take  a  stipulated  number  of  chances  in  each 
monthly  drawing,  and  even  the  poor  slaves  often  club  together  and 
purchase  a  whole  or  a  part  of  a  ticket.  The  lottery  has  the  reputa- 
tion of  being  honestly  conducted,  j^et  the  fact  can  not  be  denied 
that  it  is  one  jirolific  cause  of  the  destitution  that  largely  prevails 
among  the  poorer  classes.  It  is,  however,  probable  that  the  lottery 
will  continue  so  long  as  it  proves  a  source  of  revenue  to  the  govern- 
ment. I  have  not  the  least  douljt  that  a  system  of  brigandage  would 
be  fostered  by  the  authorities,  if  it  could  be  made  profitable.  Con- 
science is  an  inconvenient  attachment  with  which  the  average  Span- 
iard will  not  allow  himself  to  be  burdened. 

The  volantes,  which  I  have  bric'tly  described  elsewhere,  are 
peculiarly  a  city  vehicle,  but  nevertheless  are  sometimes  seen  in 
the  country,  and,  in  fact,  provide  the  only  means  of  light  trans- 
portation to  be  seen.  The  roads  in  Cuba  are  by  no  means  the  finest 
that  the  imagination  could  picture.  They  might  be  worse,  but  I 
am  disposed  to  doubt  it.  In  traveling  in  the  country,  the  motive 
power  of  a  volante  is  usually  doubled,  the  second  horse  being 
hitched  alongside  its  mate.  In  case  of  very  bad  roads,  a  third 
animal  is  called  into  service,  and  is  placed,  not  in  front,  as  an 
American  driver  would  arrange  them,  but  at  the  other  side  of  the 
animal  in  the  shafts,  thus  forming  a  team  of  three  abreast.  With 
guch  an  outfit  the  volante  bids  defiance  to  tlie  worst  roads  to  be 
found  on  the  islands,  the  large  wheels  of  the  vehicle  enabling  it  to 
overcome  anj'  ordinary  obstacle  with  facility.  The  natives  take 
great  pride  in  these  carriages,  or  carts,  as  they  would  be  called  in 
America,  and  in  Havana  they  are  frequently  seen  finished  in  the 
most  elaborate  manner,  with  mountings  of  silver,  and  even  of 
gold.  The  manner  in  which  they  are  managed  is  a  fitting  reflex  of 
the  listless  and  indolent  nature  of  the  higher  classes  of  Cubans. 
The  native  will  never  perform  for  himself  the  slightest  service  that 
can  be  rendered  by  a  slave.  The  volante  is  never  driven,  though 
one  would  think  the  exercise  would  be  pleasant  to  the  occupants. 
Instead,  a  slave  universally  bestrides  the  horse  and  guides  his 
movements,  the  whole  presenting  a  sight  that  is  ludicrous  in  its 
absurd  awkwardness. 

The  Cuban  nobility  are  a  strange  class  of  people,  an  absurd 
travesty  upon  the  titled  aristocracy  of  the  Old  World.  There  are, 
perhaps,  half  a  hundred  marquises  in  the  island,  and  as  many 
counts,  all  wealthy,  and  usually  large  and  successful  sugar  planters, 


426  WHAT  I  SAW, 

who  have  exchanged  their  doubloons  for  a  Spanish  title.  I  do  not 
know  whether  these  titles  are  hereditary,  but  I  think  not.  If  a  son 
desires  to  perpetuate  his  father's  title,  he  must  pay  a  sum  of  money 
to  the  Sjjanish  Government  for  the  privilege.  Cuban  society  is 
very  exclusive,  and  is  graded  as  carefully  as  elsewhere,  the  guiding 
influence,  of  course,  being  money.  The  sugar  planters  are  the 
wealthiest,  and  throughout  the  island  constitute  the  extreme  upper 
crust  of  the  social  pie.  They  are  followed  in  regular  gradation  by 
the  coffee  planters,  the  tobacco  planters,  the  merchants,  and  the 
professional  men.  These  latter  are  considered  barely  resi)ectable ; 
in  Cuba,  as  elsewhere,  brains  weigh  but  little  when  thrown  into 
the  scale  against  money.  These  are  the  natives.  Another  distinct 
social  class  is  composed  of  the  pure-blooded  Spaniards,  who  recog- 
nize the  Captain-General  as  the  leader  of  their  caste.  The  Spaniard 
in  Cuba  is  a  queer  combination  of  arrogance,  hauteur,  and  ignorance. 
They  seem  to  live  only  in  the  faded  glory  of  old  Spain,  and  pride 
themselves  greatly  upon  the  purity  of  their  Castilian  blood,  forget- 
ful or  ignorant  of  the  fact,  patent  to  every  superficial  student  of 
history,  that  the  blood  of  the  Castilians  has  been  tainted  by  cen- 
turies of  untold  debauchery  and  crimes  against  social  integrity. 

Tlie  ox  is  largely  the  beast  of  burden  in  Cuba,  and  the  manner 
of  harnessing  tliem  differs  materially  from  the  mode  in  vogue  in 
the  States.  Here  the  yoke  is  placed  before  the  horns,  to  which  it 
is  attached  at  the  roots  by  leather  thongs.  It  is  a  question,  in  my 
my  mind,  if  this  is  not  an  improvement  over  the  American  plan, 
as  it  saves  the  chafing  from  which  animals  often  suffer  with  us,  and 
places  the  burden  where  the  greatest  strength  of  horned  animals 
lies,  in  their  necks.  The  oxen  in  Cuba  are  not  as  heavy  of  body 
or  as  muscular  limbed  as  the  American  animal,  yet  they  draw  over 
the  rough  roads  of  this  country  loads  that  would  be  a  grievous 
burden  to  our  steers. 

One  of  the  many  novel  sights  in  Cuba  is  the  tire-flies,  or  as 
they  are  known  here,  the  cucullos.  Tliey  are  fully  twice  the  size 
of  the  American  "lightning  bugs,"  and  emit  an  amount  of  light 
that  is  surprising.  They  are  caught  by  the  slaves  and  children,  and 
confined  in  large  numbers  in  small  wicker  cages.  Thus  they  pro- 
vide a  light  by  which  a  person  can  read  without  much  difficulty. 
Many  stories  are  told  of  the  manner  in  which  these  fire-flies  are 
utilized  that  strain  my  credulity  to  a  dangerous  tension.  It  is  said 
that  the  Creole  ladies  confine  them  in  little  silver  cages,  which  are 
attached  to  their  bracelets,  and  produce  a  novel  and  startling  effect. 
Also,  that  the  slaves  gather  them  in  such  numbers  as  to  provide 
light  sufficient  for  their  cabins.  I  must  say  that  I  have  never  yet 
seen  a  slave's  cabin  lighted  wholly  by  cucullos. 


AND  HO  W  I  8A  W  IT.  427 


IV. 


Matanzas  and  Cardenas — Visit  to  a  Sugar  Plantation — The 
Process  of  Manufacture  in  Detail — Tobacco  Culture — Neg- 
lected Agriculture — Why  Cuba  is  not  more  Prosperous. 

Havana,  January  jo,  1880. 

The  past  few  days  we  have  devoted,  with  a  praiseworthy  assi- 
duity, born  of  curiosity,  to  studying  the  pecuharities  of  Cuba 
among  the  plantations  and  smaller  cities  and  towns.  On  the  26th 
we  visited  Cardenas,  and  two  days  afterward  were  at  Matanzas. 
Both  these  cities  are  located  on  the  northern  coast,  the  former, 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty,  and  the  latter,  perhaps,  one  hun- 
dred miles  from  Havana,  with  which  they  are  connected  by  rail- 
road. Neither  are  large  places,  nor  can  they  be  said  to  be  flourish- 
ing, though  the  latter  is  a  city  of  considerable  commercial  import- 
ance. So  far,  however,  as  export  and  import  trade  is  concerned, 
the  metropolis  commands  a  prominence  superior  to  all  the  other 
ports  of  the  island  combined.  Our  journey  was  undertaken  largely 
for  the  purpose  of  studying  the  agricultural  modes  and  resources 
of  the  country,  and  it  may  be  that  the  importance  of  the  various 
cities  and  villages  through  which  we  hurriedly  passed  was  neglected. 

The  attempted  revolution,  which  began  twelve  years  since,  and 
can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  yet  fully  suppressed,  has  been  a  terrible 
blow  to  the  agricultural  resources  and  progress  of  Cuba,  Hun- 
dreds of  the  finest  sugar  plantations  were  thoroughly  devastated, 
and  the  aggregate  production  of  the  island  reduced  more  than  fifty 
per  cent.  This  has  been  the  direct  efi'ect  of  the  contest.  Its  indi- 
rect effect  is  seen  in  a  lack  of  confidence  in  the  ability  of  the 
government  to  cope  with  the  spirit  of  revolution  which,  though 
slumbering,  is  liable  to  break  out  again  more  fiercely  and  deter- 
minedly than  before.  This  feeling  of  insecurity  naturally  deters 
the  sugar  and  tobacco  planters,  whose  plantations  are  so  situated 
as  to  be  exposed,  from  entering  so  extensively  into  improvements 
as  they  would  if  the  public  feeling  was  one  of  peace  and  confidence. 

A  ^^sit  to  a  Cuban  sugar  i:>lantation  reveals  to  the  American 
traveler  much  that  is  novel  and  interesting,  albeit  the  first  view  is 


428  WHAT  I  SAW. 

one  devoid  of  attractive  features  until  it  borders  almost  upon  mo- 
notony. Tlie  vast  fields  of  cane  stretch  out  to  the  extent  of  the 
vision,  unrelieved,  except  by  the  occasional  aiJi)earance  of  a  clump 
of  towering  palms,  or  may  be  but  a  single  tree.  The  sugar-cane  is 
the  great  source  of  wealth  in  the  island;  but,  for  the  reason  that  its 
cultivation  requires  a  vast  capital  to  be  expended  in  hands  (mostly 
slaves),  buildings,  machinery,  teams,  etc.,  there  are  comparatively 
few  plantations;  but  they  are  of  imnaense  area,  frequently  consist- 
ing of  two  or  three  thousand  acres.  AVithin  the  past  twenty  years 
the  mode  of  preparing  the  product  has  greatly  improved.  The  best 
machinery,  almost  wholly  of  American  manufacture,  lias  been  in- 
troduced, and  the  primitive  cane-mill,  driven  by  ox  power,  is  now 
seldom  seen.  The  season  for  grinding  is  brief,  and  at  this  time  the 
scene  upon  a  plantation  is  one  of  exceeding  activity.  Formerly 
the  slaves  were  compelled  to  labor  at  the  mills  for  eighteen  or 
twenty  hours  per  day,  but  with  the  introduction  of  Yankee  ma- 
chinery and  ingenuity  came  greater  system,  and  now  upon  all  well- 
regulated  ])lantations  the  working  force  is  divided  into  reliefs,  each 
working  twelve  hours,  and  enabling  the  work  to  go  constantly  for- 
ward. When  the  cane  is  ripe  and  ready  for  cutting,  it  is  from  six 
to  ten  feet  in  height,  and  about  the  thickness  of  a  stout  walking 
stick.  It  is  cut  oflF  near  the  root,  topped,  and  laid  in  piles  con- 
venient for  the  carts  which  foUov,'  the  cutters,  and  convey  them 
to  the  grinding  mill.  The  feeding  process  is  very  simple,  the  cane 
being  jjlaced  in  a  sloping  trough,  from  whence  it  passes  between 
the  immense  rollers,  and  is  crushed  so  thoroughly  that  every  drop 
of  the  juice  is  expressed,  and  the  fiber  comes  out  almost  as  dry  as 
tinder.  This,  after  an  exposure  of  a  few  liours  to  the  sun,  is  used 
as  fuel  for  the  engine  which  drives  the  machinery,  or  in  heating 
the  boilers  in  which  the  cane  juice  is  boiled.  The  juice  is  first 
gathered  in  huge  tanks,  when  it  is  purified  by  adding  to  it  a  small 
quantity  of  lime,  one-eight  hundredth  part.  It  is  then  drawn  off 
into  large  copper  or  iron  pans,  and  heated  to  the  temperature  of 
one  hundred  and  forty  degrees.  Any  impurities  it  may  contain 
rise  to  the  surface,  and  after  it  becomes  cool  the  clear  juice  is  again 
drawn  off  into  huge  retorts,  where  it  is  boiled.  After  having 
reached  the  proper  degree  of  consistence,  the  syrup  is  transferred  to 
large  pans  or  coolers,  and  allowed  to  rest  for  twenty-four  hours. 
It  is  then  briskly  stirred,  to  aid  in  crystallization,  and  placed  in 
casks  with  perforated  bottoms,  through  which  the  molasses,  or 
that  portion  of  the  syrup  that  has  failed  to  crystallize,  drains 
off.  The  crystals  are  then  dried  in  the  sun  and  packed  in  hogs- 
heads, forming  the   raw  brown  sugar  of  commerce.     The  process 


AND  HOW  I  SA W  IT.  429 

seems  very  simple,  yet,  at  certain  stages,  a  great  degree  of  skill  is 
required. 

The  sugar  cane  is  usually  propagated  by  cuttings,  for  which  the 
top  joints  are  used.  These  are  planted  in  rows,  three  or  four  feet 
apart,  and  at  intervals  of  two  feet.  The  best  varieties  are  ready  for 
cutting  in  about  ten  months  after  planting,  but  inferior  qualities 
require  longer  time.  After  the  cane  is  cut,  sprouts  spring  up  from 
the  roots  remaining  in  the  ground,  and  thus  the  cane  is  SL'lf-renew- 
able.  This  will  continue  several  years,  and  would  render  replanting 
unnecessary  were  it  not  that  the  cane  decreases  in  size  and  juice- 
producing  qualities  each  year;  consequently  fresh  cuttings  are 
planted  about  every  four  years. 

A  description  of  the  leading  industries  of  Cuba  would  be  no- 
ticeably incomplete  without  mentioning  tobacco.  This  plant,  as  is 
well  known,  is  indigenous  to  America,  and  nowhere  is  it  produced 
in  such  perfection  as  in  Cuba.  This  perfection  is  owing  to  several 
causes.  First,  is  the  richness  of  the  soil ;  second,  the  advantage 
of  the  extreme  heat  necessary  to  bring  the  plant  to  perfection;  and 
third,  the  great  care  taken  in  its  cultivation.  The  value  varies  ac- 
cording to  the  part  of  the  island  in  which  it  is  grown.  The  finest 
is  produced  in  the  western  section,  and  is  used  in  the  manufacture 
of  what  have  tlie  reputation  of  being  the  finest  cigars  in  the  world. 
The  cultivation  of  tobacco  in  Cuba  is  not  so  profitable  as  sugar 
growing,  but  pays  an  average  of  perhaps  nine  per  cent  on  the 
investment. 

The  other  productions  of  Cuba  are  of  infinite  variety,  but  none 
are  cultivated  to  an  extent  justifying  their  growing  being  classed  as 
a  national  industry.  Although  Indian  corn  is  indigenous  to  the 
island,  and  was  cultivated  by  the  aborigines  hundreds  of  years  be- 
fore the  covetous  Spaniard  cursed  the  soil  with  his  presence,  com- 
paratively little  is  grown  at  the  present  time.  This  is  almost  in- 
credible when  it  is  remembered  that  two  crops  can  be  gathered 
from  the  same  land  each  year.  An  enterprising  Ohio  farmer,  im- 
bued with  the  spirit  which  distinguishes  Americans  the  world  over, 
could,  I  am  convinced,  raise  in  Cuba  two  crops  of  corn  every  year, 
that  would  average  one  hundred  bushels  per  acre,  each.  It  is 
utterly  impossible  for  any  person  who  has  never  examined  it  to 
conceive  the  fertility  of  the  soil  in  Cuba. 

Rice,  indigo,  and  cotton  are  produced  to  a  very  limited  extent. 
The  civil  war  in  America  gave  an  impetus  to  the  production  of  the 
latter,  but  it  was  of  inferior  quality,  and  so  soon  as  the  embargo, 
was  removed  from  the  exportation  of  the  staple  of  the  Southern 
States,  the  demand  for  the  Cuban  article  decreased,  and  has  finally 


430  WHAT  1  SAW, 

almost  entirely  ceased.     The  rice  produced  is  inferior  to  that  grown 
in  South  Carolina,  and  does  not  meet  with  an  encouraging  demand. 

The  reasons  for  this  deficiency  in  the  value  of  agricultural  i)ro- 
ducts  are  not  found  in  the  soil,  nor  in  the  climate.  They  rest  wholly 
with  the  ix'ople  and  the  government.  There  is  not,  I  venture  to 
say,  in  the  entire  island  of  Cuba,  an  acre  that  is  scientifically  farmed. 
The  implements  and  machinery  in  use,  except  the  sugar  mills,  are 
of  the  most  primitive  character.  The  ground  is  incompletely  culti- 
vated, and  the  facilities  for  gathering  the  crops  are  such  as  were  in 
vogue  two  liundred  years  ago.  The  average  Cuban,  with  his  mix- 
ture of  Spanish  pride  and  native  indolence,  is  averse  to  innovations 
of  any  kind,  and  can  not  be  convinced  that  the  methods  adopted  a 
hundred  years  since  are  not  well  fitted  for  the  present.  They  build 
their  houses  after  the  styles  of  architecture  in  the  feudal  ages,  plow 
their  farms  as  their  grandfathers  plowed  them,  and  gather  the  pro- 
duct as  it  was  gathered  a  century  since.  The  Cuban  is  averse  to 
exertion,  and  will  frequently  call  upon  a  servant  to  perform  a  task 
that  he  could  have  readily  performed  without  moving  from  his 
tracks.  The  management  of  households  is  always  placed  in  the 
hands  of  favorite  slaves,  and  often  extensive  plantations  are  man- 
aged in  the  same  way. 

Added  to  these  disadvantages  is  the  system  of  government. 
The  exact  manner  in  which  the  Cubans  are  oppressed  and  robbed 
by  the  Spanish  nation,  it  would  take  many  pages  to  detail.  The 
captain-goncral,  ai)pointed  by  the  king  of  Spain,  is  a  monarch  al- 
most as  absolute  as  the  king  of  Burmah,  or  tlie  sovereign  of  Ashantee. 
The  island  has  been  constantly  under  martial  law  since  1825 ;  the 
farmers  are  conijjelled  to  pay  ten  per  cent  on  all  they  harvest  ex- 
cept sugar,  and  on  that  article  two  and  a  half  per  cent;  over 
twenty-three  million  dollars  are  annually  levied  upon  the  inhabit- 
ants, to  be  squandered  by  Spain ;  ice  is  monopolized  by  the  govern- 
ment; flour  is  so  taxed  as  to  be  inadmissible;  a  Creole  must  pur- 
chase a  license  before  he  can  invite  a  few  friends  to  take  a  cup  of 
tea  at  his  board ;  there  is  a  stamped  paper,  made  legally  necessary 
for  special  purposes  of  contract,  costing  eight  dollars  per  sheet;  no 
goods,  either  in  or  out  of  doors,  can  be  sold  without  a  license ;  the 
natives  of  the  island  are  excluded  entirely  from  the  army,  the  judi- 
ciary, the  treasury  and  the  customs;  the  nailitary  government 
assumes  the  charge  of  the  schools ;  the  grazing  of  cattle  is  taxed 
exorbitantly ;  newspapers  from  abroad,  with  few  exceptions,  are 
contraband ;  letters  passing  through  the  post  are  opened  and  purged 
of  their  contents  before  delivery ;  fishing  on  the  coast  is  forbidden, 
being  a  government  monopoly ;  no  person  can  move  from  one  house 


AND  HOW  I  SA  W  IT.  431 

to  another  without  first  paying  for  a  government  permit ;  all  cattle 
(the  same  as  goods)  that  are  sold  must  pay  six  per  cent  of  their 
value  to  the  government;  every  thing  is  taxed,  and  there  is  no 
appeal  from  the  Captain-General. •■  When  all  these  things  are  con- 
sidered, and  their  disadvantages  weighed,  we  cease  to  wonder  at  the 
condition  of  the  "  Queen  of  the  Antilles."  This  is  the  last  hold  of 
the  Spanish  nation  in  the  Western  Hemisphere,  the  last  remnant 
of  that  once  powerful  conquest  that  spread  throughout  the  world, 
and  the  Castiiians  cling  to  it  with  all  the  tenacity  that  attaches  to 
a  memento  of  the  past.  So  long  as  the  island  of  Cuba  remains 
under  the  dominion  of  Spain,  there  will  not  be,  there  can  not  be, 
any  improvement  in  her  condition.  Whether  independence  would 
bring  to  the  island  peace  and  progressive  prosperity  is  a  problem 
that  opportunity  alone  would  solve.  I  am  rather  of  the  opinion 
that  the  Ci'eoles  are  little  capacitated  to  govern  themselves.  They 
have  had  no  experience  whatever  in  government  affairs,  and,  so  far 
as  I  have  been  able  to  learn  by  observation,  are  possessed  of  very 
crude  ideas  concerning  a  liberal  government.  Should  the  restraint 
of  Spain  be  withdrawn  to-morrow  and  the  Cubans  permitted  to  form 
a  government  for  themselves,  they  would  be  liable  to  so  confound 
license  with  liberty  that  anarchy  would  ensue.  Cuba  should  be  a 
dependency  of  the  United  States,  and  events  may  yet  so  shape 
themselves  that  the  close  of  the  century  will  witness  the  consum- 
mation of  these  long  cherished  hopes. 


*Ballou's  Cuba. 


432  WHAT  1  SAW, 


V. 


Farewell  to  Cuba — En  route  to  Mexico — Yucatan  and  its 
People — Arrival  at  Vera  Cruz — A  Disappointment — Tns 
Ancient  City  and  its  Inhabitants — The  Cathedral — An 
Aztec  Temple — A  Cock  Fight — Off  for  the  City  op  Mexico. 

Vera  Cruz,  Mexico,  February  j,  j88o. 

After  enjoying  a  farewell  ride  through  the  streets  of  Havana, 
including  a  visit  to  the  Plaza  and  a  jaunt  in  the  Del  Paseo,  not 
omitting  the  fortifications,  where  our  curiosity  was  restrained  by 
the  universal  suspicion  that  attaches  to  Americans,  we  sailed  on 
the  steamer  Cliy  of  Neiv  York  for  this  port.  Our  farewell  to  Cuba 
was  made  with  some  regret.  The  short  time  we  had  devoted  to 
the  study  of  the  land  and  its  people  had  not  been  sufficient  to 
wholly  satisfy  our  cravings  for  information.  We  learned  much, 
but  only  sufiicient  to  be  taught  that  there  was  much  still  to  be 
learned.  TVe  found  the  peoi)le  indolent,  careless  of  the  future, 
living  only  in  the  completest  enjoyment  of  the  present,  yet  withal 
hospitable  to  the  greatest  degree.  At  all  times,  and  under  all  cir- 
cumstances, our  treatment  by  the  natives  was  most  courteous,  the 
kindly  attentions  being  at  times  almost  burdensome.  With  the 
Spanish  oflicials,  however,  it  was  different.  They  can  see  nothing 
in  an  American  but  the  spirit  of  revolution,  which  they  so  cordially 
hate  and  mortally  fear.  Every  citizen  of  the  United  States  who  sets 
his  foot  on  Cuban  soil  becomes  from  that  moment  an  object  of  sus- 
picion. His  every  movement  is  watched,  and  every  word  that  he 
may  drop  in  casual  conversation  carefully  treasured  and  reported. 
The  Spaniard  is  naturally  arrogant,  supercilious,  and  suspicious,  and 
when  to  this  is  added  an  inborn  and  carefully  cultivated  hatred  of 
Americans,  they  are  not  the  most  genial  companions  to  be  found. 
The  feeling  in  the  mind  of  a  tourist  that  his  movements  are  being 
watched  and  his  conversations  noted,  is  not  pleasant,  particularly 
when  it  is  known  that  these  spies  and  their  masters  have  absolute 
control  of  the  welfare  of  every  person  on  the  island. 


AND  HOW  2  SAW  IT.  433 

As  we  passed  out  from  the  harbor,  through  the  narrow  inlet, 
past  the  frowning  walls  of  Moro  Castle,  where  floated  the  Spanish 
flag  over  the  last  remnant  of  Castilian  rule  in  the  Western  Hemi- 
sphere, a  weak  protest  against  tiie  liberties  of  the  nations  whom  it 
once  dominated,  and  a  sneering  insult  to  liberty  in  any  form,  we 
gave  voice  to  the  hope  that  the  day  might  soon  come  when  the 
prayers  of  thousands  of  liberty-loving  Cubans  would  be  answered, 
and  the  glorious  stars  and  stripes  float  over  the  Castle  of  Moro,  a 
pledge  of  liberty  and  a  guarantee  of  the  preservation  of  those  God- 
given  rights  which  fit  men  for  self-government. 

Our  vessel  was  one  of  the  pleasantest,  and  the  officers  courteous 
and  obliging,  apparently  never  wearying  of  their  efforts  to  make  the 
voyage  agreeable  and  comfortable.  On  Sunday  we  jiut  into  the 
port  of  Progresso,  Yucatan.  We  had  thought  of  making  a  visit  to 
the  ruined  cities  of  this  peninsula,  but  reconsidered  the  determina- 
tion upon  learning  that  there  is  a  discouraging  lack  of  that  personal 
safety  which  is  one  of  the  necessities  of  individual  comfort.  Some 
day,  however,  I  may  turn  my  attention  toward  them,  and  at  my 
leisure  study  the  relics  and  speculate  upon  the  history  and  customs 
of  the  semi-civilized  people  that  once  inhabited  the  land.  The 
ruins,  which  alone  are  left,  indicate  that  they  possessed  many  of  the 
attributes  of  modern  civilization,  being  superior  even  to  the  ancient 
Aztecs  of  Mexico. 

We  found  at  this  port  a  peculiar-appearing  people,  being,  it 
is  said,  a  mixture  of  Indian  and  Aztec  blood.  They  are  not 
more  than  four  feet  eight  inches  in  height,  but  of  dispropor- 
tionate breadth.  They  have  coal-black  hair  and  eyes,  swarthy 
complexions,  with  docile  appearance,  but  are  arrant  thieves. 

The  country  is  very  productive,  producing  most  of  the  tropical 
fruits  and  vegetables  in  abundance.  The  principal  article  of  export, 
however,  is  hemp,  the  raising  of  which  of  late  years  has  become  an 
important  industry.  Thousands  of  tons  are  exported  annually, 
much  of  which  goes  to  New  York.  We  landed  large  quantities 
of  prints,  hoop-iron,  etc.,  such  things  as  find  the  most  ready  de- 
mand among  these  semi-barbarians.  The  style  of  dress  among  the 
natives  is  not  of  the  elaborate  character  that  would  be  welcomed 
in  our  best  parlors  at  home,  being  almost  universally  that  provided 
by  nature.  This  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  when  the  simplicity  of 
the  people  is  taken  in  connection  with  the  extreme  heat.  Here  we 
are  but  eighteen  degrees  north  of  the  equator,  and  even  now,  in  the 
midst  of  Winter,  the  mercury  in  the  shadiest  places,  marks  from 
ninety-eight  to  one  hundred  and  five  degrees.  In  the  sun,  it  is 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  degrees.     Exposure  to  the  sun's  rays, 

28 


434  WHAT  I  SAW, 

by  a  person  iinacclimated,  for  half  an  hour,  would  be  almost  cer- 
tain death ;  yet  these  naked  natives  move  about,  and  even  work,  in 
the  hottest  glare,  with  seemingly  little  inconvenience. 

On  board  the  vessel  we  met  an  officer  of  the  Mexican  army, 
who  also  is  an  attache  of  the  government  in  some  important  capacity. 
From  him  we  obtained  much  useful  information  of  the  country  we 
are  about  to  visit,  the  routes  best  to  take,  etc.  He  speaks  the 
purest  English,  and,  in  addition  to  other  courtesies,  provided  us 
with  passes,  which  he  assured  us  would  be  recognized  and  honored 
in  any  part  of  the  country.  These  may  prove  a  great  convenience 
to  us,  as  we  contemplate  pursuing  a  route  of  travel  differing  in 
many  parts  from  that  usually  taken  by  tourists  in  Mexico. 

On  the  2d  we  entered  the  harbor  of  Camiieachy,  the  principal 
port,  and,  I  believe,  the  capital  of  Yucatan.  This  is  an  old  city  of 
perhaps  twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  of  quite  presentable  appear- 
ance, and  surrounded  by  a  wall  sufficiently  thick  for  three  horses  to 
walk  abreast  on  its  summit.  This  wall  is  one  of  the  relics  of  the 
reign  of  Cortez  in  Mexico.  The  principal  article  of  exportation  is 
logwood,  although  the  town  has  a  small  trade  in  cotton  of  an  in- 
ferior quality.  We  did  not  remain  in  port  long  enough  for  us  to 
form  a  definite  idea  of  the  people,  having  sailed  on  the  same  day 
for  Fronteria.  This  place  is  noted  only  as  being  the  point  from 
which  the  Tehuantepec  Canal  was  projected.  The  isthmus  is  not 
more  than  a  hundred  miles  wide  at  this  point,  but  the  project  was 
found  to  be  so  beset  with  difficulties  that  it  was  abandoned.  The 
vessel  made  several  ineffectual  efforts  to  enter  the  port,  but  was 
finally  compelled,  by  adverse  winds,  to  abandon  the  attempt,  and 
stood  away  for  Vera  Cruz. 

The  latter  part  of  the  voyage  across  the  gulf  was  extremely 
tempestuous,  and  nearly  all  the  passengers  suffered  from  seasickness. 

The  first  view  as  you  aj^proach  the  city  of  Vera  Cruz  is  the 
noted  castle  of  San  Juan  de  Ulloa,  that  famous  relic  of  Cortez,  who 
is  said  to  have  expended  nearly  fifteen  millions  of  dollars  in  making 
it  an  impregnable  fortress.  More  millions  have  been  spent  on  it 
since,  yet  it  has  never  successfully  resisted  a  determined  assault. 
If  my  memory  does  not  fail  me,  the  American  navy  battered  it 
into  subjection  in  two  days.  It  is  distant  from  the  city  about  two 
m.iles,  and  protects,  or  is  intended  to  protect,  the  entrance  to  the 
harbor.  The  harbor  is  a  reasonably  safe  one,  except  during  the 
prevalence  of  a  "norther,"  one  of  those  elemental  disturbances 
that  strike  terror  to  the  hearts  of  the  sturdiest  sailors. 

In  more  than  one  regard  was  I  disappointed  in  Vera  Cruz.  I 
had  been  under  the  impression  that  it  was  a  city  of  considerable 


AND  no  W  I  SA  W  IT.  435 

comnacrcial  importance,  and  was  surprised  when  we  entered  the 
harbor  to  find  it  almost  devoid  of  shipping.  Every  thing  had  an  ap- 
pearance of  desolation  and  decay,  and  I  could  not  avoid  the  impres- 
sion that  we  were  ajaproaching  a  city  whose  prosperity  and  hope 
for  the  future  had  departed.  Vera  Cruz  is  now  a  city  of  not  to 
exceed  ten  thousand  inhabitants,  surrounded  by  an  ancient  and 
partially  dilapidated  wall,  from  ten  to  twenty-five  feet  in  height. 
The  appearance  of  the  city  is  not  entirely  uninviting,  the  streets 
being  regularly  laid  out,  and  the  houses  built  almost  wholly  of 
stone.  These  latter  are  scarcely  ever  more  than  two  stories  in 
height.  The  principal  street  runs  buck  from  the  landing  a  distance 
of  not  more  than  two  blocks,  and  is  known  as  the  Calle  des  Cen- 
trale,  or,  as  we  would  call  it  in  America,  Central  Street.  Here  are 
located  the  principal  stores,  not  more  than  a  dozen  in  number. 
The  peculiar  names  of  stores  which  I  noted  in  Havana  prevails 
also  here.  My  Spanish  education  has  been  neglected,  but  reference 
to  mj'  pocket  conversation  book  enabled  me  to  translate  some  of 
them.  One  especially  struck  me.  It  is  known  as  "  The  Poor 
Devil."  This  appellation  may  be  suggestive  of  the  financial  status 
of  the  proprietor,  but  the  sign  rests  upon  the  front  of  probably  the 
finest  store  in  the  city.  The  streets  are  narrow  and  but  sparingly 
provided  with  sidewalks,  and  such  a  thing  as  a  front  yard  is  un- 
known. The  houses  are  built  upon  the  same  mediasval  plan  that 
prevails  in  Havana,  a  portal  opening  into  an  inner  court  of  greater 
or  less  dimensions  and  elegance,  as  the  taste  of  the  owner  may 
suggest  or  his  wealth  permit.  There  are  no  windows  on  the  first 
floor  facing  the  street.  As  I  have  said  the  houses  seldom  rise 
above  two  stories.  The  reason  of  this  is  the  same  that  guides 
house  builders  in  some  other  parts  of  the  world.  The  earth  in  this 
vicinity  suffers  from  intermittent  attacks  of  St.  Vitus'  dance,  and 
houses  of  greater  elevation  would  be  unceremoniously  tumbled 
down  about  once  a  year.  The  buildings  are  constructed  of  the 
most  solid  material,  which  is  put  together  in  a  very  solid  man- 
ner. I  examined  many  that  were  not  more  than  two  stories  high, 
where  the  Avails  were  fully  two  feet  thick,  built  of  the  largest 
stones  that  could  readily  be  handled.  Occasionally  such  buildings 
suffer  from  an  earthquake  of  phenomenal  violence,  but  usually 
they  remain  undisturbed.  All  the  roofs  are  level,  constructed  of 
heavy  timbers,  securely  braced  and  supported  from  below. 

Vera  Cruz  has  the  reputation  of  being  an  unhealthy  city,  and 
I  have  no  reason  to  suppose  it  is  not  merited.  This  is  owing  largely 
to  its  unhealthy  location,  being  situated  on  the  edge  of  an  immense 
plain,  where  lagoons  and  other  malaria-producing  influences  exist. 


436  WHAT  1  SAW, 

In  the  city  certainly  every  attempt  is  made  to  keep  clean.  Through 
each  street  runs  a  tiny  stream  of  fresli  water,  and  not  an  atom  of 
garbage  or  refuse  is  allowed  to  accumulate.  This  latter  necessity  to 
cleanliness  is  not,  as  with  us,  secured  by  statutory  enactment  and 
the  work  of  tlic  scavenger  cart.  In  Vera  Cruz  the  work  is  much 
more  tlioroughly  and  cheaply  done  by  buzzards.  These  birds,  so 
despised  in  the  States,  are  almost  venerated  in  this  city.  The  sky 
is  sometimes  darkened  by  the  myriads  of  the  sable-hued  fowls, 
and  they  pounce  down  with  eager  readiness  ujion  any  garbage  that 
may  be  cast  into  the  street.  They  will  eat  any  thing,  from  a  potato 
peeling  or  a  dead  cat  to  a  decayed  wash-boiler,  and  can  always  be 
dejiended  upon  to  do  their  work  expeditiously  and  well.  The  only 
means  of  conveyance  which  I  have  seen,  except  a  dilapidated  street 
car  line  in  the  Calle  Centrale,  which  no  person  seems  to  patronize, 
is  the  donkey,  that  patient  and  much-abused  little  animal,  which 
meekly  awaits  the  reward  in  the  great  hereafter,  that  it  is  certain 
never  to  receive  on  earth.  Carriages  there  are  none,  the  ladies  of 
this  city  differ  greatly  in  their  habits  from  those  of  Havana.  Here 
they  universally  walk,  even  attending  balls  and  other  places  of 
amusement  on  foot.  These  donkeys  always  carry  their  burdens. 
"Water  is  transported  in  kegs  thrown  one  on  each  side  of  the  animal ; 
chai'coal  is  carried  in  bags  in  the  same  manner,  and  grass  for  thatch 
or  animal  food  is  piled  upon  the  little  creature's  back  until  nothing 
can  be  seen  of  him  but  his  feet  and  ears. 

Although  the  city  of  Vera  Cruz  is  a  port  of  no  great  commercial 
importance,  there  is  an  amount  of  business  done  greater  than  the 
first  impression  would  indicate.  It  is  the  entrepot  of  the  supplies  for 
the  city  of  ^Mexico,  distant  by  rail  one  hundred  and  eighty-five 
miles.  These  business  houses  are  all  in  the  hands  of  foreigners,  as 
there  is  a  certain  peculiarity  of  the  Mexican  character  incomxjatible 
with  enterprise. 

We  went  to  mass  at  the  old  cathedral,  built  by  Cortez,  much 
more  than  three  hundred  years  ago,  and  were  duly  wonder-stricken 
by  the  display  of  richness  in  jewels,  treasure,  and  paintings.  The 
outer  walls  have  grown  gray  from  the  attrition  of  the  elements 
during  three  centuries  and  a  half.  The  interior  has  an  appearance  of 
ancient  richness  in  color  and  ornamentation  that  feeds  the  eye  and 
distracts  the  mind  from  the  devout  services  of  the  solemn  mass.  I 
speak  of  the  mass  as  "solemn,"  but  that  is  more  the  result  of  habit 
than  the  exercise  of  a  care  which  should  lead  me  to  designate  things 
as  they  really  are.  To  my  mind  there  is  nothing  solemn  about  a 
mass.  There  is  in  the  presence  of  the  "host,"  the  studied  genuflec- 
tions of  the  trained  priest,  the  image  of  the  Virgin,  and  the  tawdry 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  437 

ornamentation  of  the  altar,  a  suspicion  of  idolatry  scarcely  consistent 
with  my  ideas  of  a  worship  of  the  God  who  said,  "Thou  shalt  have 
no  other  gods  before  me."  I  did  not  attend  the  services  for  the  pur- 
pose of  participating  in  the  worship.  Curiosity  alone  actuated  me, 
and  when  that  was  satisfied  I  could  not  arouse  an  interest  in  the 
religious  rites. 

From  the  cathedral  we  went  to  an  ancient  Aztec  temple,  now 
profanely  used  as  a  storehouse  for  bonded  goods.  The  officer  in 
charge  courteously  acted  as  our  guide,  and  we  rambled  at  will 
through  its  age-begrimed  apartments.  This  temple  was  erected 
long  before  the  coming  of  Cortez,  and  is  thought  to  be  not  less  than 
seven  hundred  years  old.  Near  the  ancient  altar,  we  were  shown 
slabs  covered  with  inscriptions,  which  no  one  can  decipher.  They 
are  supposed  to  cover  the  resting-places  of  leaders  among  that 
cui-ious  people,  whose  traditions  have  formed  the  basis  of  so  many 
interesting  chapters  of  profound  speculation.  We  went  into  the 
cells  and  rooms  in  all  parts  of  the  building,  and  added  our  mite  of 
theorizing  regarding  the  strange  people  who  constructed  it. 

From  there  we  passed  to  a  prison  of  this  date  and  to  a  fort. 
Upon  entering  the  latter  we  were  taken  charge  of  by  an  officer,  who 
kindly  showed  us  every  object  of  interest.  The  armament  did  not 
strike  my  unmilitary  mind  as  being  very  effective.  The  Mexican  is 
very  slow  to  grasp  the  improvements  that  lead  other  nations  forward 
in  the  competitive  march  of  pi'ogress.  This  is  true  of  all  we  have  seen 
in  Vera  Cruz,  and  is  particularly  noticeable  in  her  enginery  of  war. 
The  fort  we  visited  is  armed  with  ancient-appearing,  smooth-bore 
artillery,  which  would  be  to  a  modern  iron-clad  vessel  of  war  no 
more  formidable  than  a  child's  pop-gun.  The  small-arms  are  not 
of  the  latest  improved  patterns,  the  infantry  being  armed  with  the 
old  muzzle-loading  muskets  or  rifles,  and  the  cavalry  with  nothing 
more  effective  than  single-shooting  smooth-bore  carbines  and  old- 
fashioned  powder-and-ball  revolvers.  The  Mexicans  move  slowly. 
They  will  reach  the  plane  of  muzzle-loading  rifled  cannon.  Reming- 
ton and  Winchester  rifles,  etc.,  a  score  of  years  after  more  pro- 
gressive nations  have,  through  scientific  investigation,  been  led  to 
adopt  something  better.  The  casual  visitor  to  "Vera  Cruz  would 
conceive  the  idea  that  it  is  strongly  fortified.  The  plenitude  of  grim, 
frowning  forts  would  create  that  impression,  but  an  examination 
would  force  him  to  the  same  conclusion  I  reached,  that  a  fleet  of 
half  a  dozen  American  or  English  war  vessels  could  knock  the 
Avhole  town,  forts  and  all,  about  the  heedless  ears  of  its  people  in 
two  days. 

The  cemetery  of  Vera  Cruz  called  here,  as  in  Havana,  Campo 


438  WHAT  I  SAW, 

Santo,  or  Sacred  Ground,  is  located  a  short  way  without  the  walls, 
but  within  easy  walking  distance — perhaps  half  a  mile.  The  roa(^ 
leading  to  it  is  called  the  Street  of  Christ,  but  for  what  reason  I  do 
not  know.  It  is  lined  with  the  huts  of  the  lowliest  natives,  where 
poverty  and  wretchedness  abound.  Here,  as  in  Cuba,  the  dead 
are  not  buried,  but  deposited  in  "  pigeon  holes,"  in  the  walls.  Into 
these  recesses  the  coffin  is  shoved,  head  first,  and  the  orifice  is 
closed  by  tablets,  usually  of  marble,  whereon  are  engraved  some- 
times the  tenderest  words  of  love  and  remembrance,  exhibiting 
more  affection  and  respect  than  I  had  thought  it  possible  for  a 
"  Greaser "  to  feel.  The  area  inclosed  is  devoted  to  the  choicest 
of  flowers,  shrubs,  and  trees,  and  a  considerable  degree  of  both  care 
and  skill  are  devoted  to  it. 

Some  one  has  remarked  that  from  the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous 
is  but  a  step,  and  I  fully  realized  this  as,  after  the  mass  at  the  ca- 
thedral in  the  morning  and  the  visit  to  the  cemetery  in  the  after- 
noon, I  wickedly  and  perversely  concluded  the  sights  of  the  day  by 
attending  a  cock-fight.  This  will  probably  horrify  some  of  my  ultra- 
good  readers ;  but  if  they  enjoy  their  feeling  of  indignant  horror 
half  as  much  as  I  did  that  chicken  fight,  they  do  not  need  my  sym- 
pathies. Besides,  they  will  please  remember  that  I  am  in  Mexico 
as  a  sight-seer,  and  not  as  a  missionary.  If  these  benighted  heathen 
perversely  insist  upon  sinking  their  immortal  souls  down  to  eternal 
perdition,  there  certainly  is  no  valid  reason  why  I  should  not  see 
how  the  thing  is  done.  I  will,  however,  be  considerate  enough  not 
to  describe  it.  I  might  tell  you  how  the  chickens  were  armed  with 
razor-like  gaffs  of  steel ;  how  they  cut  and  gashed  each  other  until 
one  fell  down  dead  ;  how  the  worldly  "  Greasers  "  swore  in  good, 
round  Sjoanish  oaths  when  their  favorite  bird  was  defeated,  etc., 
but  I  forbear. 

To-night,  at  eleven  o'clock,  we  take  the  train  for  the  City  of 
Mexico.  This  seems  like  a  strange  hour  to  enter  upon  a  journey 
through  a  country  where  our  sole  object  is  to  see,  but  unfortunately 
there  is  but  one  train  a  day.  Rumor  tells  us  that  the  road  is  not 
wholly  safe,  and  that  robbers  abound  on  certain  parts  of  the  line. 
I  have  no  particular  fancy  for  a  Mexican  bandit,  but  as  we  are  des- 
perately determined  to  go  to  Mexico,  we  will  trust  to  good  fortune 
and  the  guard  of  twenty-five  soldiers  that  accompany  us,  although 
I  consider  the  dependence  upon  good  luck  perhaps  the  most  reliable 
of  the  two. 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  439 


VI. 


From  Vera  Cruz  to  the  City  of  Mexico — In  the  Capital — Its 
Appearance — The  Streets,  the  Grand  Plaza,  the  Palace, 
AND  THE  Cathedral — The  Aztec  Temple  of  Sacrifice — Dan- 
gers OF  the  Capital — The  Virgin  of  Guadalupe — A  Fanatical 
Legend, 

City  of  Mexico,  J^eiruary  12,  1880. 

The  distance  from  Vera  Cruz  to  this  city  is  one  hundred  and 
eighty-five  miles,  which  we  traversed  safely  in  twenty-one  hours, 
arriving  here  at  eight  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  7th,  or  at  the 
rate  of  not  quite  nine  miles  per  hour.  This  would  be  considered 
very  slow  traveling  in  the  States,  but  let  me  assure  you  it  is  fully 
fast  enough  for  a  ^Mexican  railroad.  I  am  inclined  to  believe,  how- 
ever, that  while  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  miles  is  the  geographi- 
cal distance,  the  windings  of  the  road,  around  and  over  the  moun- 
tains, makes  the  absolute  distance  much  greater. 

As  we  will,  upon  our  return  to  Vera  Cruz,  about  two  weeks 
hence,  visit,  more  at  our  leisure,  the  cities  of  Cordova,  Orizaba,  and 
Puebla,  and  the  country  surrounding,  I  will  defer  any  extended 
mention  of  them  at  jiresent,  and  carry  the  reader  much  more  hur- 
riedly, and  I  trust,  more  comfortably,  than  we  came  over  the  road 
to  the  City  of  Mexico. 

The  first  view  of  the  valley  of  Mexico  is  one  of  most  entranc- 
ing beauty,  one  upon  which  the  eye  would  never  weary  of  rest- 
ing, discovering  new  delights  at  every  view,  and  seeing  in  each 
shadow  and  burst  of  sunlight  new  beauties  and  fresh  scenes  of 
almost  bewildering  attractiveness.  Looking  out  over  the  valley, 
dotted  o'er  with  charming  villages  and  beautiful  lakes,  with  the  city 
resting  like  a  diamond  in  a  cluster  of  sapphires  and  emeralds,  one 
ceases  to  wonder  at  the  enthusiasm  of  the  mercurial  Cortez,  who 
stood  near  the  same  spot  and  looked  upon  the  magnificence  of  the 
capital  of  the  Montezumas,  and  its  surroundings.  His  thoughts 
were  mingled  admiration  and  covetousness :  ours  were  divided  be- 
tween regard  for  the  beauty  of  the  scene  and  regret  for  the  three 
hundred  years  of  Spanish  rule  that  had  added  little  or  nothing  to 


440  WHAT  I  SAW, 

the  civilization  and  progress  of  the  country  it  conquered  in  l)lood 
and  ruled  with  an  oppression  that  left  little  upon  which  to  build 
prosperity. 

The  shades  of  evening  were  gathering  over  the  city,  and  the 
last  rays  of  declining  day  were  gilding  the  top  of  the  gigantic  Poi)0- 
catcptl,  which  stands  as  a  monster  sentinel  over  the  valley,  when 
■we  alighted  at  the  Buena  Vista  depot,  just  without  the  city.  The 
entrance  to  the  city  from  the  station  is  through  a  shaded  avenue, 
past  the  Almeda,  an  extended  and  beautiful  park,  and  through 
numerous  tasteful  streets  to  the  hotel  selected  for  our  brief  sojourn. 

jNIexico  is  certainly  the  perfection  of  climate.  At  this  time, 
when  the  people  of  the  Northern  States  are  wrapped  in  furs  and 
other  preservatives  of  animal  heat,  I  am  writing  at  an  open  win- 
dow, enjoying  the  June-Uke  breeze  that  plays  about  me,  and  look- 
ing out  upon  a  garden  fragrant  with  the  perfume  of  tropical  flowers, 
and  inviting  by  its  umbrageous  shades,  through  which  the  rays  of 
the  tropical  sun  never  penetrate.  Flowers  and  fruits  are  everywhere, 
and  the  vendors  of  the  fragrant  or  luscious  tropical  productions 
greet  the  visitor  on  every  corner. 

Early  on  the  following  morning,  a  morning  which,  like  all  others 
in  this  climate,  broke  bright  and  beautiful,  we  began  a  somewliat 
unsystematic  tour  of  the  city.  In  Mexico  the  tourist  finds  no  guides, 
those  necessary  evils  which  the  traveler  in  other  countries  both  en- 
joys and  suffers  from.  Hei'e  the  stranger  must  depend  almost 
wholly  upon  his  natural  aptitude  for  finding  novelties,  aided  to  a 
limited  extent  by  the  not  always  satisfactory  directions  given  by 
the  hotel  keepers,  and  the  few  English-speaking  residents. 

There  is  a  peculiarity  about  the  surroundings  of  the  City  of 
Mexico  that  can  not  escape  the  observation.  The  valley,  miles  in 
extent,  is  surrounded  on  every  side  by  mountains  of  greater  or  less 
altitude.  The  impression  is  novel  as  one  stands  at  the  intersection 
of  two  streets  in  the  city,  and,  looking  to  the  north,  south,  east,  and 
west,  the  eye  meets  in  each  direction  a  perspective  of  mountains, 
among  them  the  toAvering  Iztaccihuatl,  with  its  cap  of  perennial 
snow.  The  site  of  the  city  itself  is  as  level  as  if  so  formed  by  art. 
The  ground  upon  which  the  city  stands  was,  hundreds  of  years  ago, 
a  salt  marsh,  and  even  yet  an  excavation  but  a  few  inches  in  depth 
will  develop  a  dampness  that  occupies  the  midway  between  water 
and  solid  earth.  Drainage  is  impossible,  as  there  is  no  lower  point 
m  the  valley  than  the  city.  This  would  naturally  lead  to  the  sup- 
position that  Mexico  is  an  unhealthy  city.  The  reverse  is  the  case. 
At  times  the  exhalations  from  the  undrained  streets  are  offensive, 
and  very  suggestive  of  malaria,  but  tlie  altitude  above  the  level  of 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  \V  IT.  441 

the  sea  (seven  thousand  five  hundred  feet)  is  so  great  that  these 
effluvia  are  liarmless.  When  Cortez  captured  the  city,  some  of  the 
streets  were  canals,  communicating  with  the  contiguous  lake.  They 
were  used  as  thoroughfares,  much  as  are  the  estuaries  in  Venice, 
Amsterdam,  and  Rotterdam.  These  were  filled  in  and  the  water  of 
the  lake  dried  up  sufficiently  to  give  the  city  a  solid  foundation. 
Now  the  lake,  instead  of  laving  the  walls  of  the  houses  and  flowing 
through  the  streets  of  the  city,  is  distant  nearly  three  miles. 

The  streets  of  Mexico  are  straight,  and  usually  cross  each  other 
at  right  angles;  hut,  with  a  very  fjw  exceptions,  are  devoid  of 
attractiveness.  They  are  usually  named  for  some  saintly  old  fel- 
low, and  in  nearly  every  instance  the  names  have  a  religious  signifi- 
cance. The  principal  street,  or  at  least  the  one  of  the  greatest  histor- 
ical interest,  is  the  Avenue  San  Cosme.  It  leads  from  the  railroad 
station  directly  into  the  city,  terminating  at  the  Grand  Plaza,  and  is 
spacious  and  lined  with  stately  buildings.  Along  this  highway,  theli 
but  a  dike,  intersected  with  numerous  ditches,  the  conqueror  Cortez 
fled  when  pursued  by  the  infuriated  populace,  aroused  to  frenzy  by 
the  oppressions  of  the  blood-thirsty  Spaniards.  But  a  fortnight 
afterward  he  returned  and  fought  through  the  length  of  this  street, 
strewing  the  earth  with  the  reekin^j  corpses  of  thousands  of  the  de- 
fenders of  the  city  in  his  mad  thirst  for  glory,  and  what  he  termed 
the  "ghjryof  God."  Along  this  street  also  marched  the  victorious 
Americans  after  the  sanguinary  struggles  culminating  in  the  sur- 
render of  the  city.  The  most  attractive  thoroughfare  of  the  place, 
aside  from  historical  interest,  runs  from  the  Almeda  to  the  Plaza. 
It  is  the  mercantile  and  fashionable  thoroughfare,  though  but 
about  half  a  mile  in  length.  It  is,  perhaps,  fifty  feet  wide,  and 
lined  with  shapely,  flat-roofed  buildings,  scarcely  ever  more  than 
three  stories  in  height.  It  bears  several  names,  varying,  I  believe, 
with  the  section  of  the  city  through  which  it  passes,  being  known 
variously  as  Calle  de  Francisco,  Calle  del  Plateros,  and  Calle  de 
Profesa;  and,  perhaps,  numerous  other  appellations  which  it  was 
not  my  misfortune  to  encounter.  This  street  is  crowded  at  all 
hours  of  the  day,  with  hacks  and  private  carriages,  men,  women, 
donkeys,  and  other  Mexican  beasts  of  burden,  as  well  as  the  repre- 
sentatives of  Mexican  gentility  and  fashion.  The  fashionable  Mex- 
ican ladies  follow  the  same  system  in  vogue  in  Havana.  They  are 
seldom  seen  in  the  streets  on  foot,  and  do  not  alight  from  their 
carriages  while  shopping,  the  merchandize  being  brought  out  for 
their  inspection. 

The  feature  of  the  City  of  Mexico,  however,  is  the  Grand  Plaza. 
It  is  about  a  thousand  feet  square,  and  in  the  center  is  a  tasteful 


442  WHAT  I  SAW, 

garden  filled  with  trees  and  flowers,  planted  by  Carlotta,  of  unhappy 
memory.  The  government  palace  occupies  the  entire  eastern  side. 
This  building  has  little  the  a])pearance  of  a  palace,  either  externally 
or  internally.  It  is  but  two  stories  in  height,  with  flat  roof,  and  but 
little  attempt  at  outward  ornamentation.  The  height  of  the  struc- 
ture does  not  correspond  with  its  superficial  extent,  and  gives  it  an 
appearance  of  "  squattiness,"  to  use  a  homely  but  expressive  Yan- 
keeism.  It  is  built  after  the  prevailing  style  in  Spanish  countries, 
the  building  surrounding  an  inner  court.  The  lower  floor  is  devoted 
to  storage  of  military  supplies,  and  communicates  with  the  street 
through  a  limited  number  of  heavily  barred  windows.  The  entrance 
is  through  a  covered  passage-way,  leading  to  the  inner  court.  The 
"  Hall  of  the  Ambassadors  "  is  the  only  attractive  feature  of  the 
internal  arrangement  of  the  building.  It  is  stately  and  grand  in  its 
immense  extent,  and  contains  the  portraits  of  most  of  the  celebrities 
who  have  added  glory  or  infamy  to  the  Mexican  name. 

The  north  side  of  the  Plaza  is  occupied  with  the  cathedral. 
This  is,  without  doubt,  the  stateliest  structure  on  the  Western 
Continent,  not  even  excepting  the  capitol  at  Washington.  Its  grand 
proportions  rise  up  from  a  plateau  elevated  several  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  square,  and  can  not  fail  to  impress  the  visitor.  It 
may  be  that  my  enthusiasm  was  aroused  by  the  appeai'ance  of 
the  majestic  pile  more  by  reason  of  comparison  with  the  other  edi- 
fices in  Mexico  than  for  any  substantial  merit  that  the  view  may 
possess,  but  both  the  external  and  internal  appearance  of  the  build- 
ing had  for  me  a  fascination  that  was  almost  irresistible.  We  de- 
voted hours  to  wandering  through  its  spacious  interior,  admiring 
its  beauty  of  finish,  its  paintings  and  statuary,  and  feeling,  if  not 
expressing,  a  contempt  for  the  modified  idolatry  exhibited  on  every 
hand.  The  choir  and  high  altar  are  bewildering  in  their  magnifi- 
cence. The  former  is  a  mass  of  stately  carving  and  gilding,  and  the 
latter  is  a  blaze  of  gold,  relieved  at  intervals  by  statues  in  green 
and  pink  marble,  or  amalgam.  Between  the  choir  and  the  altar  is 
an  aisle,  along  which  run  two  balustrades,  composed  of  an  alloy 
of  gold,  silver,  and  brass,  of  great  beauty  and  immense  value.  At 
intervals  are  life-size  figures  of  the  same  metal,  holding  aloft  can- 
delabra. We  were  sorry  that  the  inopportune  occasion  of  our  visit 
denied  us  the  pleasure  of  witnessing  the  celebration  of  high  mass  in 
the  cathedral.  Mass  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  to  me  always 
attractive,  not  perhaps  in  the  sense  it  should  be,  but  enjoyable  none 
the  less.  Here  the  ceremony  is  said  to  be  peculiarly  interesting, 
surrounded  as  the  participants  are  by  every  adjunct  to  bewildering 
display,  and  before  a  people  who  are  firm  believers  in  the  most 


AND  HOW  I  SA W  IT.  443 

ultra  teachings  of  the  Church.  The  railing  surrounding  the  altar  is 
nearly  always  crowded  with  devotees,  who  humbly  kneel,  the  rich 
with  the  poor,  before  the  image  of  the  "  Blessed  Virgin,"  and 
silently  appeal  to  her  for  aid.  It  is  not,  I  regret  to  say,  always 
prayer  for  forgiveness  of  past  offenses  and  supplications  for  divine 
guidance  in  the  future  that  go  up  from  this  gilded  altar.  Oftener  it 
is  an  appeal  to  the  Virgin  for  guidance  in  selecting  a  lucky  number 
in  a  lottery,  or  success  in  other  ventures  of  questionable  morality. 

The  average  Mexican  is  a  creature  utterly  devoid  of  every  moral 
feeling.  He  is  as  ignorant  as  a  donkey,  as  vicious  and  vindictive  as 
a  hyena,  and  possesses  not  tiie  slightest  evidence  of  an  abihty  to 
distinguish  between  right  and  wrong,  except  as  an  incentive  to  pur- 
sue the  wrong.  Here  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  flourishes  in  all 
its  bigotry  and  intolerance.  The  people  are  priest-ridden  to  an  ex- 
tent that  would  arouse  the  sympathy  of  an  intelligent  visitor,  were 
it  not  that  he  feels  that  the  Mexicans,  as  a  people,  are  sunk  far  below 
the  reach  of  commiseration.  They  despise  a  Protestant,  with  a 
most  unholy  hatred,  and  when  to  his  heresy  is  added  the  fortune 
of  being  an  American,  there  is  no  limit  to  the  bitterness  of  the 
treacherous  "Greaser."  There  is  something  about  the  composition 
of  a  Mexican  inconsistent  with  honesty.  They  are  natural  thieves, 
and  usually  add  to  this  penchant  for  thievery  a  reckless  disregard  for 
human  life  that  is  discouraging  to  the  traveler.  The  sun  does  not 
shine  upon  a  more  lovely  country  than  Mexico,  but  it  is  cursed  by 
the  presence  of  a  people  whose  touch  is  contagion  and  whose  every 
thought  is  a  menace  to  civilization,  progress,  and  prosperity.  The 
Mexican  occupies  a  position  in  tlie  scale  of  humanity  very  similar 
to  that  held  by  the  snarling,  mangy  cur  in  the  canine  race. 

But  I  have  wandered  far  away  from  my  text.  The  cathedral 
occupies  the  site  of  an  Aztec  temple,  or  teocallis.  This  was  the 
sacrificial  temple,  and  was  composed  of  five  terraces,  reaching  a 
height  of  about  two  hundred  feet.  The  summit  was  reached  by  a 
staircase  which  wound  five  times  around  the  mound.  Up  this  stair- 
way victims  by  the  thousand  were  led.  At  the  summit  was  the 
sacrificial  stone,  a  huge  block  of  red  granite,  of  circular  shape,  about 
twelve  feet  in  diameter,  and  four  feet  high.  The  victims  were  placed 
before  this  stone,  with  their  breasts  resting  against  it.  Then  the 
priests  cut  into  the  chest,  plucked  forth  the  heart,  and  after  laying 
it  before  tlie  god,  hurled  the  body  down  the  sides  of  the  teocallis  to 
the  crowds  below.  These  accepted  the  bodies  as  a  blessed  manna 
from  the  gods,  and  reverently  cooked  and  ate  them,  a  happy  com- 
bination of  worldlj''  pleasure  and  religious  duty.  This  sacrificial 
stone  is  still  preserved,  in  a  museum  of  antiquities,  and  is  visited 


444  WHAT  I  SAW, 

by  thousands  who  delight  in  studying  the  pecuh'arities  of  the  almost 
forgotten  race,  and  speculating  upon  the  condition  of  a  people  who 
combined  with  the  most  debased  barbarism  many  features  of  quali- 
fied civilization.  Some  antiquarians  fancy  they  see  blood  stains  in 
the  peculiar  red  color  of  the  stone,  but  to  my  mind  the  color  is 
that  of  the  original  rock. 

The  principal  park  of  Mexico  is  the  Almeda,  a  beautiful 
shaded  inclosure,  perhaps  half  a  mile  square.  The  trees  are  aljun- 
dant  and  of  perennial  greenness.  These  are  interspersed  with 
beautiful  grassj-  plats,  bordered  with  rare  flowers,  and  the  labyrinth- 
ian  walks  are  lined  with  stone  benches,  inviting  the  .weary  pedes- 
trian siglit-seer  to  comforting  rest  beneath  the  spreading  trees. 
Scattered  throughout  the  grounds  are  sparkling  fountains,  whose 
cooling  waters  temper  the  air,  and  add  to  the  comfort  as  well  as  the 
beauty  of  the  surroundings.  The  picture  is  one  of  absorbing  beauty, 
yet  it  has  its  dark  side.  The  lawlessness  which  has  for  years  been 
a  distinguishing  feature  of  Mexico,  penetrates  even  this  bright  spot 
in  her  capital.  One  can  not  walk  in  the  Almeda,  even  in  daylight, 
without  personal  peril.  Robberies  are  of  daily  occurrence,  and 
even  so  common  as  to  be  scarcely  worthy  of  note.  At  night,  no  one 
dares  to  venture  alone  within  its  precincts.  Nor  is  it  alone  in  the 
Almeda  that  sojourners  and  residents  of  this  lovely  city  find  basis 
for  fears  concerning  their  safety.  We  hear  that  a  train  on  the  road 
from  Vera  Cruz  was  attacked  by  robbers  and  the  conductor  and 
four  passengers  killed.  To-ilay  we  took  the  street  cars  for  a  ride  of 
three  miles  into  the  suburbs.  What  was  our  surprise  to  see  a 
guard  of  soldiers  on  the  car,  and  to  be  told  that  the  authorities 
thought  such  a  precaution  necessary  to  insure  the  safety  of  the 
passengers.  If  the  traveler  can  not  find  safety  beneath  the  shadow 
of  the  president's  palace,  where  within  the  bounds  of  the  nation 
can  he  look  for  it? 

Yesterday  we  went  out  to  the  Heights  of*  Chepultepec.  It  is 
possible  that  among  my  readers  may  be  found  some  who  visited 
the  spot  under  less  pleasing  circvmistances,  and  who  clambered  up 
its  steep  and  rocky  sides  when  the  summit  glistened  with  the  bay- 
onets of  the  swarthy  followers  of  the  luckless  Santa  Anna.  The 
wonder  to  me  is  how  an  American  soldier  lived  to  reach  the  summit. 
This  has  been  the  favorite  resort  of  all  the  Mexican  rulers.  On  the 
apex  is  a  fortress  and  a  palace,  a  beautiful  place,  romantically  sit- 
uated, from  whence  can  be  obtained  a  view  of  the  entire  valley  of 
^Mexico.  At  one  sweep  of  the  eyes  the  complete  panorama  passes 
before  the  vision,  the  city,  the  lakes,  the  causeways,  the  mountains 
stretching  away  in  the  dim  distance  until  their  outlines  become  lost 


AND  HOW  I  SAW  IT.  445 

in  a  hazy  cloud,  that  glamour  of  nothingness  that  gradually  en- 
velops and  finally  hides  distant  objects  within  its  folds.  Away  in 
the  dim  distance  rises  the  peak  of  Popocatapetl,  which  even  the  in- 
tervening fifty  miles  do  not  render  indistinct. 

Among  other  points  of  interest  to  the  student  of  history  which 
we  visited  was  the  Tree  of  Cortcz,  a  few  miles  from  the  city.  This 
tree  is  noted  as  having  been  the  hiding  place  of  the  Spanish  adven- 
turer when  driven  from  the  city  by  the  followers  of  Montezuma.  It 
is  about  twenty  feet  in  diameter,  and  is  hollow. 

On  Thursday  we  went  out  south-east  from  the  citj'  many  miles, 
in  a  gondola,  through  the  canals  to  the  floating  islands.  These  are 
one  of  the  wonders  of  Mexico.  The  original  formation  was  weeds, 
upon  which  accumulated  dust,  and,  finallj'-,  earth,  until  now  the 
soil  is  heavy  and  firm,  producing  all  kinds  of  vegetation.  These 
islands  are  moved  about  bj^  the  shifting  breeze,  and  are  a  curious 
sight,  well  repaying  a  visit.  All  along  the  banks  of  the  canals  are 
Indian  villages,  built  for  the  most  part  of  banlboo  cane.  We  saw  an 
Indian  and  his  wife  step  from  their  bath  in  the  canal  to  the  bank. 
The  husband  held  the  baby  while  the  wife  arranged  her  not  very 
elaborate  toilet.  Her  clothes  consisted  of  a  single  garment  of  an 
appearance  so  dilapidated  that  it  was  evident  she  must  experience 
some  difficulty  in  finding  the  vents  that  were  originally  intended 
for  arm-holes.  But  it  was  done  at  last,  when  the  man  placed  the 
babe  on  her  back,  and  she  threw  arouml  her  a  secondary  rag  that 
held  the  youngster  firmly  in  its  place.  This  completed  her  toilet, 
and  the  amiable  couple  started  towards  the  city,  happy,  doubtless, 
in  the  knowledge  that  the  needs  of  their  present  were  supplied. 
These  women  are  frequently  mothers  at  twelve,  and  are  old  Avomen 
at  thirty.  Marriage  among  them  is  very  simple,  and  the  ties  are 
readily  dissolved  by  either  party.  "When  they  weary  of  cohabitation 
they  seek  more  congenial  companionship,  without  any  special  for- 
mality. The  division  of  property  is  not  often  a  source  of  difficulty, 
because,  as  a  rule,  there  is  none  to  divide. 

The  domestic  animals  of  the  city  are  various.  The  horses  are 
quite  small,  but  apparently  of  a  hardy  race,  equal  to  any  ordinary 
emergency  of  labor.  There  are  some  fine  American  horses  in  the 
city,  l)ut  they  are  so  costly  as  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  all  but  the 
very  wealthy.  A  really  desirable  pair,  such  as  a  fancier  of  superior 
horse-flesh  would  admire,  cost  about  three  thousand  dollars  in  gold. 
An  American  carriage  to  correspond  can  not  be  procured  for  much 
less  than  an  equal  amount.  The  cattle  are  very  fine,  and  I  expect 
the  beef  supplied  by  the  better  class  of  hotels  and  restaurants  in 
Mexico  can  not  be  surpassed  elsewhere.     Donkeys  are  the  beasts  of 


44G  WHAT  I  SAW, 

burden,  being  used  almost  exclusively  in  bearing  loads,  while  the 
horses  are  attached  to  vehicles.  The  demure  little  donkeys  can 
carry  an  astonishing  load.  Usually  paniers  are  used,  one  swung 
on  each  side  of  the  beast,  much,  I  suppose,  as  has  been  the  mode 
since  the  utility  of  beasts  of  burden  was  first  discovered.  These 
little  animals  are  proverbially  sure-footed,  and  will  carry  building 
material  up  a  flight  of  stairs.  Sheep  are  not  of  a  superior  quality 
in  this  region,  but  are  shorn  twice  a  year.  The  wool  finds  a  slow 
market  at  about  fifteen  cents  per  pound. 

I  might  devote  a  page  or  more  to  a  description  of  the  Mexican 
homes.  It  would,  however,  be  but  a  repetition  of  what  I  have 
written  of  Cuban  residences.  They  are  essentially  the  same.  So, 
also,  are  some  of  the  habits  of  the  jieople.  Smoking  is  as  much  a 
national  habit  of  the  Mexicans  as  of  the  Cubans.  In  the  tobacco 
stores  of  Mexico  are  found  only  smoking  tobacco,  the  chewing  va- 
riety being  here  unknown.  Here,  as  in  Havana,  every  body  smokes, 
the  men  and  boys  cigars  or  pipes,  as  their  financial  condition  may 
permit,  and  the  women  cigarettes. 

North-east  of  the  city,  at  a  distance  of  perhaps  six  miles,  is 
located  one  of  the  features,  not  only  of  the  valley  of  Mexico,  but 
of  the  nation.  The  visitor  first  notes  a  group  of  domes  and  towers, 
massed  together,  and  looking,  at  a  distance,  not  unlike  the  first 
glimpse  of  a  Hindoo  tomb.  These  are  the  temples  dedicated  to  the 
worship  of  the  Virgin  of  Guadalupe,  the  patron  saint,  or  to  use  a 
perhai^s  nearer  correct,  if  not  so  agreeable,  term,  the  special  god- 
dess of  Mexico.  The  story  of  the  Virgin  of  Guadalui^e  reads  much 
like  some  of  the  Hindoo  traditions,  and  is  not  a  whit  less  absurd 
to  the  mind  of  an  intelligent,  reasoning  person.  It  is  to  the  effect 
that  an  Indian,  coming  over  the  mountains,  seeking  for  a  priest  at 
a  church  built  by  Cortez,  a  mile  or  so  from  its  base,  is  met  by  the 
Virgin,  who  tells  him  to  build  a  church  for  her  on  that  spot.  He 
flees  affrighted  to  the  priest,  and  tells  his  tale.  He  is  repulsed  by 
the  parson,  who  assumes  a  feeling  of  distaste  for  what  he  terms  the 
idle  fancy  of  the  Indian.  The  latter  meets  the  Virgin  twice  again, 
asks  a  sign,  has  his  soiled  blanket  filled  by  her  hand  with  flowers 
from  the  barren  rocks,  which  when  placed  before  the  doubting  arch- 
bishop are  no  longer  flowers,  but  the  tangible  person  of  the  Virgin  her- 
self, with  the  God-child  in  her  arms.  In  the  language  of  the  boys, 
"that  settled  it."  Upon  the  spot  has  been  erected  a  magnificent 
church,  or  series  of  churches,  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  the 
"  Holy  Virgin  of  Guadalupe,"  and  over  the  high  altar  is  what  is 
represented  to  be  the  identical  blanket,  with  her  form  upon  it, 
which  has  become  the  "coat  of  arms"  of  the  church.    This  is  the 


'  AND  HOW  J  SAW  IT.  447 

story  as  it  is  told  to  any  visitor,  with  an  assumption  of  sincerity 
that,  while  it  imposes  upon  the  ignorant  and  debased  Indians  and 
Mexicans,  serves  but  to  add  to  the  feeling  of  disgust  that  every  in- 
telligent man  must  exj^erience.  I  asked  myself,  when  I  stood  be- 
neath this  altar  bedecked  with  tawdry  ornamentation  and  gilded 
paraphernalia  of  the  Catholic  worship,  whether  such  semi-idolatry 
is  acceptable  to  our  Heavenly  Father.  My  conception  of  the  re- 
ligious duties  of  humanity  causes  me  to  turn  with  loathing  from  it, 
and  to  hope  for  that  brighter  day  when  the  worship  of  God  will  be 
strii^ped  of  its  bigotry,  and  religion  be  made  to  partake  of  the  sim- 
plicity of  thought  and  action  taught  by  the  n^eek  and  lowly  Nazarene. 

The  cathedral  of  Guadalupe,  though  presenting  no  specially 
attractive  features  outwardly,  contains  within  perhaps  the  richest 
ornamentation  of  any  Christian  Church  in  the  world.  There  is  a 
balustrade  about  two  hundred  feet  long  and  three  feet  high,  with 
each  jjost  nearly  six  inches  in  diameter,  composed  throughout  of 
pure  silver.  The  hand-railing  is  from  two  to  three  inches  wide  and 
two  inches  thick.  The  candelabra,  eight  feet  high,  are  of  gold,  and 
the  immense  chandeliers  of  the  same  precious  metal.  The  robes  of 
the  officiating  priests  are  of  the  finest  lace,  and  every  part  of  the 
ornamentation  is  of  corresponding  richness.  The  churches  are  three 
in  number,  the  lower  one  of  which  covers  a  fountain,  which  the 
devout  are  taught  to  believe  burst  forth  from  the  solid  rock  at 
the  touch  of  the  Virgin's  foot.  Here,  in  the  rear  of  the  church, 
is  the  grave  of  Santa  Anna,  surmounted  by  an  elegant  and  tasteful 
monument. 

To-morrow  we  bid  farewell  to  the  City  of  Mexico,  pleased  with 
the  manifold  scenes  of  novelty  and  beauty  that  have  been  unfolded 
to  us,  but  thoroughly  disgusted  with  the  masses  of  the  ignorant, 
debased,  and  semi-idolatrous  people.  We  go  hence  to  Puebla,  Ori- 
zaba, Cordova,  Vei'a  Cruz,  and  thence,  i^  Providence  kindly  carries 
us  safely  through,  to  the  land  of  peace  and  quietude — our  home. 


448  WHAT  1  SAW, 


VII. 


PuEBLA,  Orizaba,  and  Cordova  to  Vera  Cruz — A  Bull  Fight — 
The  Old  Inquisition  at  Puebla — The  American  Mission — 
Valley  of  Orizaba — Perpetual  Snow  in  the  Tropics — A 
Mexican  Circus— An  American  Planter — Arrival  at  Vera 
Cruz — Sail  for  Home. 

Vera  Cruz,  Mexico,  Febnmry  26,  188 t. 

During  the  past  two  weeks  we  have  seen  much  of  Mexico — not 
every  tiling  that  was  to  be  seen,  perhaps — but  an  amount  that  we 
are  pleased  to  consider  amply  sufhcient.  Much  of  the  pleasure  that 
would  otherwise  be  secured  from  travel  in  Mexico  is  lost  in  the 
knowledge  that  hi  only  a  few  places  is  traveling  safe.  Even  the 
streets  of  the  capital  are  infested  by  footpads,  highway  robbers,  and 
a  miscellaneous  collection  of  bandits  that  can  not  be  considered 
pleasant  companions.  At  Orizaba  and  Puebla  the  same  undesirable 
state  of  affairs  exists,  and  the  lines  of  travel  are  beset  with  banditti, 
who  hesitate  at  no  crime  to  satisfy  their  demands  for  plunder. 

Our  first  i:)oint  after  leaving  the  City  of  Mexico,  was  Puebla. 
On  Sunday,  being  unable  to  find  a  Protestant  Church,  and  not  de- 
siring to  attend  a  Mexican  Catholic  service,  we  chose  the  lesser  evil, 
and  went  to  witness  a  bull  fight.  As  a  matter  of  unadorned  fact, 
that  bull  fight  was  the  leading  object  of  our  visit  to  Puebla,  though 
we  found  many  other  additional  points  of  attraction  during  our  brief 
stay.  Just  as  we  were  starting  for  the  scene  of  the  fight,  an  acci- 
dent befell  our  guide,  which  some  persons  would  have  accepted  as 
an  ill  omen,  and  turned  back.  As  he  was  about  to  cross  the  street 
in  front  of  us,  he  was  struck  by  a  passing  carriage  and  thrown 
down,  sufiering  a  broken  leg.  This  incident  delayed  us  only  so  long 
as  was  necessai'y  to  see  him  cared  for,  and  we  were  again  on  our 
way.  The  price  of  admission  was  but  little  more  than  the  cost  of 
an  entrance  to  a  circus-tent  in  the  United  States.  If  tlie  reader  ex- 
pects me  to  enter  ujjon  a  florid  description  of  the  manner  of  con- 
ducting a  bull  fight,  he  will  be  disappointed.  Every  schoOl-boy  has 
read  the  stories,  told  much  better*  than  I  can  hope  to  tell  them,  and 
they  crowed  his  earliest  recollection  of  entertaining  reading.    There  ia 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  449 

no  excitement  unless  one  or  more  men  and  twice  as  many  horses  are 
killed.  Consequently,  the  exhibition  we  saw  was  voted  tame,  as 
there  was  no  one  killed.  The  entertainment  the  previous  Sunday 
was  much  superior,  when  a  particularly  vicious  bull  killed  one  man 
and  four  horses.  One  exciting  episode  occurred  at  the  fight  we 
attended  that  was  sufficient  for  me.  The  bull  gored  a  horse  wick- 
edly, and  the  rider  was  thrown  to  the  ground.  The  enraged  animal 
started  for  him,  and  just  at  the  moment  when  it  seemed  the  man 
must  be  pinned  to  the  earth  by  the  bloody  horns,  his  companions 
distracted  the  beast's  attention,  and  the  fellow  leaped  nimbly  to  his 
feet,  and  in  a  moment  was  again  participating  in  the  sport.  The 
crowd  in  attendance  was  immense,  perhaps  not  less  than  ten  thou- 
sand, and  all  enjoyed  the  cruel  sport  keenly.  I  must  confess  that 
after  my  curiosity  was  satisfied  it  palled  upon  me  and  I  ceased  to 
enjoy  it.  The  sport  is  cruel  and  cowardly,  and  fit  only  for  Span- 
iards and  Mexicans. 

In  the  evening  of  the  same  day  we  attended  the  grand  concert 
given  in  honor  of  the  presence  of  President  Diaz  in  the  city,  and 
had  the  honor  of  being  escorted  to  seats  by  the  Mexican  president 
in  person.  He  does  not  speak  a  word  of  English,  and,  consequently, 
I  was  debarred  the  pleasure  of  suggesting  to  him  some  improve- 
ments in  the  manner  of  managing  the  afTairs  of  the  country.  I 
regretted  this  very  much,  and  the  president  will  probably  never 
know  what  a  golden  opportunity  he  missed. 

On  Monday  we  visited  the  ruins  of  the  old  Inquisition,  but 
there  is  little  to  see,  as  the  ruin  is  complete,  and  the  only  habitable 
part  is  occupied  by  the  American  Protestant  Mission,  the  single 
foothold  M'hich  Protestantism  has  been  able  to  secure  in  the  city, 
and  this  is  endured  rather  than  enjoyed  by  the  fanatical  Catholic 
bigots.  This  ''nest  of  heretics"  is  constantly  menaced  with  violence, 
and  is  liable  at  any  time  to  be  destroyed  by  a  mob,  and  the  self- 
sacrificing  missionaries  be  put  to  death.  I  was  told  by  a  gentleman, 
who  claimed  to  know  whereof  he  spoke,  that  when  this  Inquisition 
was  destroyed,  after  the  French  conquest,  a  few  years  ago,  there 
were  taken  from  the  cells  four  large  cart-loads  of  bones.  We  entered 
such  of  these  cells  as  remain  intact.  The  walls  are  of  solid  stone,, 
four  feet  thick,  and  the  space  within  is  barely  sufficient  to  permit 
the  inmate  to  lie  down.  We  entered  the  mission  school,  and  saw 
the  few  children  in  attendance.  I  earnestly  hope  that  they  may- 
progress  in  the  good  work,  and  go  forth  finally  as  earnest  workers  in 
the  cause  of  regeneration,  that  can  only  be  successful  in  Mexico 
when  the  cloud  of  religious  bigotry  and  intolerance  that  now  en- 
velops the  country  is  dispelled. 

29 


450  WHAT  I  SAW, 

The  story  of  how  the  mission  came  to  be  located  in  the  old  In- 
quisition is  brief.  During  the  revolution  which  seated  ^laximilian 
on  an  ephemeral  throne,  an  American  resident  here  sufTercd  indig- 
nities for  which  our  government  demanded  reparation.  In  the 
mean  time  the  new  government  had  confiscated  a  large  amount 
of  church  projierty,  and  the  Inquisition  of  Puebla,  ruined  by  the 
French  bombardment  of  the  city,  was  accepted  by  the  American  as 
compensation  for  his  wrongs.  He  sold  it  to  the  mission,  and  con- 
sequently we  see  "the  eternal  fitness  of  things"  illustrated  by  a 
Protestant  mission  occupying  the  ruins  of  a  Catholic  Inquisition. 

Many  of  the  old  churches  of  the  city  are  now  in  ruins.  The 
French,  after  taking  the  fort,  were  sixty  days  fighting  through  one 
street,  a  distance  of  half  a  mile,  and  the  churches  sufiered  greatly  in 
the  conflict. 

At  the  hotel  we  were  witnesses  to  the  evidence  of  the  perils 
encountered  by  travelers  in  Mexico.  An  American,  a  Mr.  Green, 
of  Connecticut,  came  in  and  exhibited  a  bullet  hole  in  his  shoulder, 
received  in  an  encounter  which  he  and  a  single  companion  had  with 
a  band  of  robbers,  almost  within  sight  of  the  city.  They  claimed  to 
have  killed  seven,  and  mortally  wounded  four  of  their  assailants, 
before  making  their  escape.  This  part  of  the  story  may  or  may 
not  be  true,  but  we  have  ocular  evidence  of  the  fact  that  they 
had  been  attacked.  This  is  a  good  country — to  leave  as  soon  as 
possible. 

On  the  20th  we  started  for  Orizaba,  distant  from  Puebla  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles.  As  companions  we  hatl  two  Frenchmen, 
one  of  whom  spoke  English,  and  the  other  Spanish.  Thus  pro%dded, 
we  felt  ourselves  prepared  to  talk  to  death  any  wandering  bands  of 
robbers  we  might  meet.  We  left  the  hotel  at  11  P.  M.,  and  found 
the  stage  to  convey  us  to  the  depot,  distant  three  miles,  accompanied 
by  a  guard  of  soldiers.  This  was  not  calculated  to  favorably  im- 
press a  visitor  with  the  country,  and  we  were  not  favorably  im- 
pressed. We  felt  relieved  to  know  that  there  were  but  a  few  short 
days  between  us  and  the  hour  when  we  would  shake  from  our 
feet  the  last  particle  of  Mexican  dust,  and  depart  forever.  Much 
of  the  way  from  Puebla  to  Orizaba,  the  landscape  was  dotted  with 
the  ruins  of  convents,  monasteries,  and  other  relics  of  the  halcyon 
days  of  the  priesthood,  when  the  Roman  Catholic  was  the  onlj^  re- 
ligion tolerated  by  the  laws  of  the  country,  and  the  Church  ruled 
the  nation  and  its  people  with  an  iron  hand.  I  can  not  conceive 
how  it  was  possible  for  the  country  to  be  more  fully  under  the 
control  of  religious  intolerance  and  bigotry  than  it  is  at  present,  but 
I  am  told  that  previous  to  the  conquest  by  the  French,  and  the 


AND  HOW  I  SA W  IT.  451 

brief  reign  of  Maximilian,  it  was  as  much  worse  than  it  is  now  as 
the  present  is  less  liberal  than  the  United  States. 

The  scenery  in  the  vicinity  of  Orizaba  is  very  fine,  reminding 
me  much  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas  of  California.  At  no  time  during 
the  trip  were  we  out  of  sight  of  the  peak  of  Orizaba,  which  lifts  its 
snow-capped  summit  above  the  surrounding  mountains  like  a  gigan- 
tic monument.  We  observed  three  columns  of  smoke  arising  from 
the  sides,  but  none  from  the  top. 

We  found  Orizaba  a  pretty  little  town,  for  Mexico,  nestled  in  a 
valley  between  towering  mountains,  and  containing  a  population  of 
perhaps  twenty-eight  thousand.  The  scenery  is  not  unlike  that 
surrounding  Altoona,  on  the  line  of  the  Pennsylvania  Eailroad, 
though  even  more  picturesque  and  mountainous.  The  streets  of 
the  city  intersect  at  right  angles.  The  buildings  are  not  pretentious 
in  architectural  display,  being  usually  but  one  story  in  height,  and 
resembling,  from  the  streets,  nothing  so  much  as  prisons.  Houses 
of  greater  altitude  and  less  solidity  would  be  unsafe,  as  the  valley 
of  Orizaba  is  the  home  of  the  earthquake,  where  the  terrestrial  up- 
heavals, often  of  considerable  violence,  are  of  almost  daily  occur- 
rence. When  the  visitor  has  penetrated  to  the  inner  court,  around 
which  every  dwelling  is  built,  the  prison-like  appearance  disappears, 
and  he  finds  himself  in  a  miniature  paradise,  where  tropical  flowers, 
tasteful  walks,  and  cooling  fountains  abound. 

There  is  probably  not  to  be  found  elsewhere  a  valley  of  more 
superb  beauty  than  that  of  Orizaba,  a  valley  where  nature  is  more 
bountiful,  and  where  the  ornamental  and  the  useful  are  more  hap- 
pily combined  in  the  production  of  a  picture  of  absorbing  attract- 
iveness, upon  which  the  eye  never  wearies  of  resting.  All  the 
plants  and  fruits  of  the  tropics  abound,  and  the  eye  has  but  to  fol- 
low the  clearly  cut  outlines  of  the  towering  peak  of  Orizaba  to  trace 
the  evidences  of  the  gradual  change  in  temperature  from  tropical 
heat  to  the  everlasting  snow  of  the  summit.  As  the  eye  ascends 
the  mountain,  it  notes  the  temperate  climate,  such  as  we  have  in 
the  ISTorthern  States,  with  its  hardy  varieties  of  vegetation.  Above 
this  is  the  pine  belt,  covered  by  a  dense  mass  of  these  dismal  ever- 
greens. The  upper  border  of  the  tree  belt  is  as  clearly  cut  as  if 
controlled  by  the  will  of  man,  and  is  succeeded  by  the  barren 
region  below  the  line  of  perpetual  snow,  where  grows  nothing  but 
moss  lichens.  The  snow  line  varies,  of  course,  at  different  seasons, 
and,  as  it  is  now  midwinter,  it  extends  much'  below  the  limit  of  six 
months  ago.  That  term  "  midwinter "  sounds  like  a  grim  satire 
when  one  is  sweltering  with  heat,  and  the  mercury  in  the  thermom- 
eter dances  recklessly  about  among  the  nineties.     We  found  com- 


452  WHAT  1  SAW, 

fort,  however,  in  turning  our  eyes  upon  the  snow-cap  of  Orizaba, 
and  permitting  our  fancy,  at  least,  to  be  cooled  while  gazing  upon 
the  spot  of  eternal  ice. 

It  may  be  that  I  will  be  thought  prone  to  exaggeration  when  I 
say  that  this  valley  is  the  most  exquisitely  beautiful  I  have  ever 
seen.  There  are,  of  course,  many  attractive  scenes  that  I  have 
never  viewed,  but  certainly  there  is  nothing  in  either  Europe  or 
America  to  compare  with  it.  There  is  an  absence  of  that  awe-in- 
spiring grandeur  that  distinguishes  the  Alps  of  Switzerland  and  the 
Sierras  of  California,  but  for  the  happy  combinations  that  tend  to 
form  a  visitor's  conception  of  an  earthly  j^aradise,  the  valley  of 
Orizaba  is  unsurpassed,  and  to  my  mind,  unequaled.  Nature  has 
done  every  thing;  man,  nothing.     It  is  a  land  where 

"  Every  prospect  pleases, 
And  only  man  is  vile." 

Turn  from  the  picture  of  bountiful  nature  to  the  people,  and  the 
mind  loses  at  once  its  pleasing  impress.  The  intolerant  i:)olitical 
and  religious  bigotry,  the  indolent  wretchedness,  of  a  God-cursed 
populace  is  made  more  conspicuous  and  more  distasteful  by  con- 
trast, and  the  tourist  turns  aside  to  welcome  the  first  means  of  con- 
veyance to  carry  him  safely  from  their  midst. 

"We  visited  the  falls  of  Orizaba,  some  three  miles  from  the  city,  in 
company  with  the  jolly  and  thrifty  German  landlord  of  the  hotel. 
The  picturesque  surroundings  invite  one  to  linger  for  hours.  Of 
themselves  the  falls  are  not  very  extensive,  but  the  stream  has  the 
peculiarity  of  bursting  spontaneously  from  the  side  of  the  mountain, 
and  falling  in  a  succession  of  cascades,  from  terrace  to  terrace,  until 
it  reaches  the  valley  beneath.  It  is  simply  a  gigantic  spring,  and 
the  water  is  icy  cold.  The  drive  through  the  tropical  woods  is  a 
feature  of  the  trip  of  superior  attractiveness. 

While  at  Orizaba,  we  attended  (on  Sunday,  of  course,  that 
being  the  universal  holiday  in  Mexico)  a  Mexican  circus.  The 
building  was  an  old,  ruined  cathedral,  roofless,  and  provided  with 
seats  arranged  in  amphitheatrical  form.  The  scene  brought  forcibly 
to  my  mind  the  ancient  Coliseum  at  Rome.  The  audience  num- 
bered several  thousand,  of  whom  we  were  the  only  foreigners. 
The  performance  was  not  materially  unlike  similar  entertainments 
in  the  States.  There  was  the  same  reckless,  bareback  riding,  the 
same  wonderful  displays  of  athletic  and  gymnastic  skill,  and  even 
the  ubiquitous  clown,  with  his  ribald  songs  and  time-worn  jokes, 
was  not  absent.  We  were  provided  with  seats  on  the  upper  tier, 
where  we  could  look  out  over  the  ruined  wall,  and  feast  our  eyes 


AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT.  453 

upon  the  tropical  scenes  of  the  valley,  and  permit  them  to  wander 
away  to  the  snow-capped  summit  of  Orizaba's  peak. 

We  left  Orizaba  the  next  day  after  visiting  the  circus,  and  car- 
ried with  us  impressions  which  will  continue  through  life.  During 
our  stay  we  experienced  a  severe  shock  of  earthquake,  which  opened 
the  doors  and  overturned  the  furniture  in  our  room  at  the  hotel. 
During  our  brief  sojourn  in  the  tropics  we  have  learned  to  look 
upon  these  terrestrial  agitations  with  a  degree  of  equanimity,  but 
certainly  not  of  pleasure.  Earthquakes  in  Mexico  are  not  so  much  to 
be  dreaded,  however,  as  the  robbers.  I  had  almost  used  the  more 
comprehensive  word  "  people,"  and  I  am  not  certain  that  I  would 
have  wandered  far  from  the  truth.  A  Mexican,  to  my  mind,  is  a  nat- 
ural bandit,  and  the  exceptions  to  the  rule  are  scarcely  sufficiently 
numerous  to  constitute  a  distinct  class  of  the  population.  During  our 
stay,  a  party  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  procured  horses,  and  endeav- 
ored to  reach  an  interesting  ruin  less  than  ten  miles  from  the  city. 
They  encountered  a  band  of  robbers,  and  were  stripped  of  every 
particle  of  clothing.  They  remained  in  the  suburbs  until  night,  and 
returned  to  the  hotel  in  this  condition  of  primitiveness.  We  were 
so  fortunate  as  not  to  be  of  the  party,  but  escaped  only  by  reason 
of  a  prior  engagement. 

We  reached  Cordova  safely,  and  found  it  a  pretty  little  place  of 
eight  thousand  people.  We  were  so  fortunate  as  to  be  provided 
with  a  letter  of  introduction  from  the  American  consul  to  a  Dr. 
Harris,  an  American  resident  for  sixteen  years.  We  visited  the 
doctor,  and  spent  many  pleasant  hours  in  the  company  of  himself 
and  family,  an  amiable  wife  and  four  beautiful  daughters.  We 
went  to  their  coffee  j^lantation,  where  are  forty  thousand  prolific 
trees.  They  grow  about  five  feet  high,  and  perhaps  two  inches  in 
diameter,  and  bloom  and  fruit  six  months  in  the  year.  The  coffee 
is  all  picked  by  hand,  and  placed  in  out-door  bins,  where  it  is 
allowed  to  remain  until  the  outer  covering  of  the  grain  becomes 
loose.  It  is  then  hulled  by  hand,  and  next  all  picked  over,  grain 
by  grain.  Mr,  Harris  has  a  plantation  of  mangoes,  now  in  bloom, 
besides  bananas,  oranges,  and  many  other  fruits. 

After  a  short  stay,  we  bid  farewell  to  Mr.  Harris  and  his  in- 
teresting family,  with  much  regret,  as  there  we  had  found  and  en- 
joyed the  first  home-like  experience  since  leaving  the  States.  Even 
the  large  pecuniary  profit  which  they  derive  from  a  residence  in 
Mexico  would  be  no  inducement  to  me.  Constant  contact  with 
danger  has  lessened  its  terrors  to  them,  and  they  relate  the  details 
of  thrilling  experiences  with  the  semi-civilized  natives  with  a  non- 
chalance that  almost  froze  my  blood.     Mr.  Harris  told  me  that  dur- 


454  WHA  T  I  SA  W,  AND  HO  W  I  SA  W  IT. 

ing  one  revolution  they  remained  in  their  walled  house  for  several 
months.  There  is  no  coal  in  this  part  of  Mexico,  and  during  the 
period  of  their  enforced  seclusion  they  were  at  times  compelled  to 
pay  five  hundred  dollars  in  gold  for  a  bushel  of  charcoal. 

The  descent  from  Cordova  to  the  "  bad  lands,"  which  begin  at 
the  base  of  the  mountains,  forty  miles  from  Vera  Cruz,  is  several 
thousand  feet.  We  arrived  in  safety,  with  a  guard  of  twenty-five 
soldiers,  and  to-day  are  making  preparations  to  sail  to-morrow  for 
New  Orleans,  the  nearest  port  in  "  Grod's  country." 


THE  END. 


TO  TRAVELERS. 


HJ^HERE   are  but  few  of  Ihe  many  annoyances 
H     with  which  the  tourist  has  to  contend  that 
equal  the  perplexity  of  selecting  hotels  and  routes 
of  travel.     For  this  reason  the  writer  ol  the  fore- 
croinc  pages   has  consented   to   incorporate  as  an 
appendix  to  the  work  a  list  of  the  steamship  com- 
panies, hotels,  etc.,  which  can  safely  and  profitably 
be   patronized.       Although  these  advertisements 
are  of  course  paid  for,  the  author  takes  pleasure  m 
commending  to  travelers  their  many  excellences. 
He  speaks  from  experience,  having  been  a  patron 
of  the  hotels  and  steamers  either  during  his  recent 
tour  around  the  world,  or  upon  occasions   of  pre- 
vious excursions. 


COOK'S  EXCURSIONS, 

Tours    and    General    Traveling   Arrangements, 
THOS.  COOK  &  SON, 

Oriitinators  of  the  WorW-renowned  Tourist  Excursion  System  (Established  1841), 
and  only  successful  Conductors  of  Toui-s  and  Excursions  to  all  parts  of  theGlolie. 
Specially  appointed  by  His  Koyal  fiishness  the  Prince  of  Wales  Sole  Passenger 
Agents  to  the  Koyal  British  Commission,  Vienna  1873,  Philadelphia  1876,  and 
Pans  1878.  Sole  Managing  Agents  of  the  Kiiedive  Mail  Steamers  from  Cairo 
(Egypt)  to  fli-st  and  second  Cataracts  of  the  Nile.  Sole  Inteination.il  Passenger 
Agents  under  special  appointment  by  the  Covernment  Administration  of  the 
Italian  State  Railways.  General  Passenger  Agents  m  America  for  the  Midland 
Railway  of  England,  etc. 

CHIEF  OFFICE,  -         -         ludgate  Circus,  London. 

CHIEF  AMERICAN  OFFICE,  261  Broadway.  New  York. 

BRANCH  OFFICES  IN  AMERICA: 


BOSTON,  199  Washington  Street. 
NEW  HAVEN,  71  Church  Street. 
PHILADELPHIA,  1351  Chestnut  St. 
WASHINGTON,  1431    Penn.  Avenue. 


CLEVELAND,  I  I9'.2  Bank  Street. 
CHICAGO,  Sherman  House. 
TORONTO,  35  Yonge  Street. 
NEW  ORLEANS,  35  Carondelet  St. 


COOK'S  EUROPEAN  TOURS. 

Ne  Plus  Ultra  of  Luxury,  Comfort  and  Economy. 

Grand  Excursion  Parties  to  Kurope,  giving  choice  t>f  dales  and  routes. 
Piices  vaiyiiiii  irom  $350  to  $600.  Trnvel  and  Hotels  flrst-class.  nil  nec- 
essary expenses  included.  Pamphlet,  Willi  Map,  c(MUaiiiing  lull  particulars, 
sent  tree  by  mail  on  request. 


OOOK'S  AMERICAN  TOURS. 

Tickets  issued  to  all  places  of  plea^iure  resort  in  the  UNITED  STATES  and  CAN- 
ADA, including  Niagara  Falls,  The  Thousand  Islands,  Montreal,  Quebec, 
The  Sdguenay  River,  Tue  White  Mountain^;,  Mount  Desert,  Rangeleyaud 
Mooseliead  Lakes,  Ihe  Great  Lakes,  Virginia  Springs,  Denver,  The 
Rocky  Mountains,  Salt  Lake  City,  San  Francisco,  Yosemite  Val- 
lev.  The  Big  Trees,  The  Geysers,  etc.,  etc,,  at  Reduced  Rates. 

Cook's  Annerican   Hotel  Coupons  provide  best  accommodation  at  any  of  the 
Hotels  on  the  list  at  uniform  rates. 


TOURIST  TICKETS  with  or  without  Hotel  Coupons  issued  to  Lulependeiit 
Travelei-s  by  all  Routes,  in  connection  with  all  Lines  of  Steauifrs  to  Irelaiid, 
Scotland,  England,  Fiance,  <iermany,  Sweden.  Norway,  Switzerland,  Spain, 
Portugal,  Italy,  Egypt.  Palestine,  Roiind  the  Woild,  etc.,  etc.,  issued  in  many 
cases  at  reduced  rates,  and  enable  one  or  more  Passengers  to  travel  by  any 
route,  at  any  date,  and  do  not  compel  the  holders  to  travel  in  parties  unless 
they  wish.  Full  particulars  in  COOK'S  EXCURSIONIST,  with  Maps,  bv  mail, 
10  cents.       Address, 

THOS.  COOK  i&  SON,  261  Broadway,  N.  Y. 

Manager  of  the  American  Business,  C.  A.  BARATTONI.  P.  O.  Box,  1611 


RUSS  HOUSE. 

3AII  FRAHCISCq     -      -      CALIFORNIA. 

$2.00  FEIS  ID-^^-Z". 


Large  Airy  Rooms  and  Unsurpassed  Tables. 


THE  YOSEMITE  VALLEY. 


Leidig's  Hotel, 


TEIBHi^S,        -       -       $3.00  ^er  IDa3r. 


A  Home  for  Tourists,  with  Home  Comforts. 

MACE'S  HOTEL 


i,  CiLLIFORKIil. 


RATES,       -       -       -       $2.00  PER   DAY. 


i^g^This  IS  the  best  point  tioin  winch  to  start  to  the  Yosemite  Valley,  and 
guides  and  conveyances  can  be  secured  at  low  rates,  independent  of  the  stage 
Inies 

UNITED  STATES  HOTEL, 

LOS  ANGELES,     -     -     -     .    CALIFORNIA. 


g^^Unsurpasscd  accommodations  at  reasonable  rates. 

Recommended  to  all,^^^| 

la-A-TEis,   $2.00   r'Exa   id.a."S". 


WINDSOR     HOTEL. 

YOKOHAMA,  JAPAN. 

m^A  HOME  FOR  AMERICANS, 

;:y=KEPT  BY  AN  AMERICAN. 

I^a-tes,       -       -       -       $3.00  IF'er  3Da3r. 

SEIYO   KEN  HOTEL, 

(NATIVE  JAPANESE,) 
TOKIO  (YEDDO) JAPAN. 

AN  EXCELLENT   OPPORTUNITV  TO  STUDY   JAPANESE  HOTEL  LIFE. 
PER  DAY        -        -        -        -       -------       $2.00 

HIOGO,  -         -     '    .         -  JAPAN. 

fi^^FINE,  AIRY  AND  CLEAN  ROOMS 

KEPT  BY  AN  AMERICAN,  "^a 
$3.00  Per  Day. 

ASTOR  HOUSE, 

SHANGHAI,         ....         CHINA. 
EXCELLENT    ACCOMMODATIONS!     FAIR    RATES! 

t®.The  only  Hotel  in  Shanghai  kept  by  .in  American. 

Rates,  $3.00  Per  Day- 


HONG  KONG  HOTEL, 

HONG  KONG,  -  -  -  CHINA. 


GOOD  TABLE!      CLEAN,  AIRY  APARTMENTS! 

Terms,  $3.00  P=er  103.37-. 

s  I  nsr  a- ..^  r=  o  ibe. 


THE  LARGEST   AND   BEST  HOTEL  IN  THE    CITY. 
TERMS, $300  PER  DAY. 

EGLINGTON  HOTEL, 

POINT  De  GALLE,         -         -        CEYLON. 


As  fine  accommodations  and  service  as  can  be  found  in  a  tour 

of  the  world. 

TERMS. -        $2.00  Per  Day- 

CALCUTTA,         ....         INDIA. 


ELEGANTLY  SITUATED ! 

UNSURPASSED  ACCOMMODATIONS  1 

(^"TEiaivics,  $2,50  ^Eia   13.^-z-. 


CLARKE'S   HOTEL, 

BENARES.       ...  .       INDIA. 


NEAT  AND  AIRY  ROOMS  !  BOUNTIFUL  TABLE  ! 


TERMS,  $2.00   PER  DAY. 


IMPERIAL  HOTEL, 


LUCKNOW,         ....         INDIA. 


A    HOTEL    IN    A    KING'S    PALACE! 

RATES,  $2.00  PER  DAY. 

UNITED  SERVICE  HOTEL, 

AGRA, INDIA. 


A  House  with  unsurpassed  accommodations,  kept  by  a  native. 


PRICE,  $2.00   PER  DAY 


UNITED  SERVICE  HOTEL, 

DELHI, INDIA. 


PATROxNIZED  AND  RECOMMENDED  BY  TOURISTS. 
Rates,  $2.00    Per  Day. 


iD^f^iEZ  :B"cr:LNro--^i-.o'V\7", 

A   thoroughly  Native  Hotel,  kept  by  a   Native,  and  the  best 
point  in  India  to  study  the  original  Hindoo  character. 

Terms,  ^2.00  lE^er  JDeuy. 

UNITED  SERVICE  HOTEL, 

CAWNPORE,  -  -  -  INDIA. 


^°ONE  OF  THE  v^ERY  BEST  HOTELS  IN  INDIA. 

EARNESTLY  RECOMMENDED  TO  AMERICAN  TOURISTS^,^ 

I^ates,  $2.00  ^er  103.37-. 

HAMBLETON'S  HOTEL, 

BOMBAY, INDIA. 


ELEGANTLY  SITUATED  ! 

FINE,  AIRY  ROOMS  ! 

CHOICE  TABLE  ! 
RATES,  $2.50  Per  Day. 

HOTEL  ])E  ST.  PETERSBURG, 


Fairness  and  courtesy  to  all,  with  the  best  accommodations, 


distinguish  this  Hotel. 


RATES,  ..----  $3.50  PER  DAY. 


HOTEL  FLORENZIA 


CONVENIENTLY  LOCATED! 

APARTMENTS  CLEAN  AND  AIRY  ! 
TABLE  BOUNTIFULLY  SUPPLIED! 

Ratp.s.  |9  50  Per  Day. 

De  loudres  hotel, 

PISA,  -  .  -         .  .  ITALY. 


B@„In  every  regard  a  desirable  stopping  place  for  tourists. 
$2.50  PER  DAY. 


HOTEL  De  NEW  YORK, 

FLORENCE,       -       -       -       -       ITALY. 


B@„A  THOROUGH,   HOME-LIKE  HOTEL. 

COMMENDED  TO  ALL  AMERICANS.-^g 
Rates,  -  -  -  _      $2.50  Per  Day. 


HOTEL  De  VICTORIA, 

VENICE,  -  -  ITALY. 


VERY  CHOICE,  AND    IS  RECOMMENDED  TO  ALL. 

$2.50  Per  Day. 


HOTEL  De   grand  R, 

MILAN  -         -  ITALY. 


B^^As  fine  a  Hotel  as  can  be  found  in  the  Kingdom. 
RATES,  -  -         .         .         .  $250   PER   DAY. 

HOTEL  OF  THE  FOUR  SEASONS, 

MUNICH,  BAVARIA. 


■m°A  PLEASANT  HOME   FOR  AMERIC\NS_^I1 
Bates,  $2.50  Per  Day. 


HOTEL    SCHREIDEH 


^j 


HEIDELBERG,  -  -  GERMANY 


EARNESTLY  RECOMMENDED  TO  ALL  TRAVELERS. 

$3.00  PER  DAY. 

ROTTERDAM,  HOLLAND. 


Courteous  attention,  with  good   accommodations   at   reason- 
able rates. 

S^"$2.50  PER  DAY...^ 


WOBURN  HOUSE. 

No.  12,  WOBURN  PLACE,  LONDON. 


QUIET,   NEAT,   CLEAN   AND    ACCOMMODATING. 
RATES.  $2.50  PER  DAY. 


PHILIPS    COCKBURN  HOTEL, 

EDINBURG,  SCOTLAND. 


PLEASANTLY  LOCATED,  AND  THE 

BEST   ACCOMMODATIONS  IN  THE  CITY. 

$2.50  Per  Day. 

CRANSTON'S  WAVERLY  HOTEL, 

GLASGOW,  SCOTLAND. 


A  temperance  hotel,  unsurpassed  in  pleasing  accommodations 
in  the  city,  in  Scotland,  in  Europe,  or  in  the  world. 

Rates,  $2.50  Per  Day. 
EGLINGTON  &  WINTON'S 

COMMERCIJIL  HOTEL, 

BELFAST,  IRELAND. 


—t 

One  of  the  best  hotels  in  the  United  Kingdom. 
RATES, J^2.50.  PER  DAY. 


ANTRIM    ARMS, 

PORTRUSH,   (Near  Giant's  Causeway,)    IRELAND. 


To  tourists  desiring  to  visit  the  Causeway  this  hotel  is  com- 
mended. 

$2.50  Per  Day. 

JIUBT'S  HOTEL, 

LOJVDOMDERRY,      -      -      IBELAKB. 


This   is   the  best  house  in  the  north  of  Ireland   and   worthy 

the  patronage  of  all. 

Rates,        -       -       -       $2.50  Per  Day. 

MARSHALL  HOUSE, 

SAVANNAH,  GEORGIA. 


A  thoroughly  home-like  house,  with  the  best  accommodations 

at  reasonable  rates. 

•    $2.50  pp:r  day. 


\M) 


HOTEL  WIIBSO:  . 

JACKSONVILLE,      -      -      FLOIUDA. 


Seekers  for  health  or  pleasure  will  find  the  finest  facilities  at 

this  house. 

Rates,        -        -       -       $3.00  Per  Day 


LARKIN  HOUSE. 

FALAIKA,       -        -        -        FLORIDA. 


CLEAN,  AIRY  ROOMS! 

WELL  SUPPLIED  TABLE  ' 
Rates. S3.00  Per  Day. 

CIT-2"   HOTEL, 

MEW  ORLEANS,       -       LOUISMMd. 


A  house  liberally  supplied  with  home  comforts  for  travelers. 
-Rates,  §2.50  Per  Day. 


GALVESTON,  TEXAS. 


THE    FINEST    AND   BEST  HOTEL    IN    THE    CITY. 
83.00  PER  DAY. 

HORD'S  HOTEL, 

SAJS  AKTOmO,  -        -         TEXAS. 


The  best  accommodations  at  reasonable  rates. 
Terms, S2.50  Per  Day. 


HOTEL    AMERICA. 

HAY  AM  A        -        -        -        -         CUBA. 


A  CHOICE    HOTEL! 

RECOMMENED  TO  AMERICANS! 

Rates, S2.50  Per  Day 


MATAJVZAS   CUBA. 


'•9 


Light,  airy  and  clean  rooms,  and  good  table. 
52.50  Per  Day. 

CAFE  De  PARIS  HOTEL, 

CITY  OF  MEXICO. 


Good  accommodations  at  very  reasonable  rates. 

i^~  Terms,  $1.50  Per  Day.  .„^| 

HOTEL  DILIGENCES, 

rUEBLO,        -        -        -        MEXICO, 


A  CHOICE  HOUSE,  WELL  KEPT. 
Rates, $2.50  Per  Day. 


HOTEL  De    La    HOllDA, 

ORIZIBA,        -        -        -        MEXICO. 


The  best  house  in  the  city,  and  commended  to  alL 

4^-$2.50  PER  DAY._^ 

(Native  Japanese,) 

Steamship  Company. 

YOKOHAMA  TO  NAGASAKI  and  SHANGHAI. 


This  line  passes  through  the  Inland  Sea,  which  is  unsur- 
passed for  beauty  by  the  celebrated  "Thousand  Islands"  of 
the  St.  Lawrence  river.      FARE,  $50. 

PENINSULAR  AND  ORIENTAL 

Steamship  Company. 

From  China,  to  Singapore,  Penang,  Ceylun,  Bombay,  the  Red  ?iea, 

Suez  Canal,  llediterrancan  St'a.  Brinilisi.  Italy,  and 

around  to  3Ialta.  Gibraltar  and  London. 


This  line  is  unsurpassed  in  everything  that  tends  to  make 
sea  voyaging  pleasant. 

ALEXANDRIA 

From  HAViWl  to  VEii.l  CRUZ  and  NEW  ORLEANS. 


Speed,  safety,  unequalled  accommodations  and   courteous 
treatment. 


,13^ 


Steamsliip  Compaoj 

GLASGOW  TO  JVEW  YORK 


The  Finest  and  Safest  Vessels! 

Tlie  Most  Eleo-ant  Staterooms! 

The  Most  Courteons  and  Oblig-ing  Offiers ! 

THE  ONE  LINE  WHERE  SAFETY  IS  NEVER  SAC- 
RIFICED FOR  SPEED. 


ORIENTAL  AND  OCCIDENTAL 

Steamship  Company 

SilN  FKANCISCI)  lo  YflRflHAllA  and  HONG  KONG. 


Fine  vessels,  elegant  accommodations  and  courteous  officials. 

LEYE  &  ilLDEM, 

207   BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK. 


PERFECTLY  RELIABLE  IN  EVERY  REGARD. 

^^Write  for  circulars  and  information. 


THE  GREAT  CENTRAL  STATE  OF  THE  UNION, 

Unexcelled  for  fertility  of  soil,  purity,  mildness  and  healthful- 

ness  of  climate,  beauty  of  scenery,  intelligence, 

culture  and  moral  worth  of  its  people 


I.    N.    M'CONNELL, 

Real  Estate  Dealer, 

BEATRICE,  (Ga^e  Co.,)  NEB. 


Large  quantities  of  CHOICE  LAND  in  Southern  Nebraska 

for  sale. 
Taxes  paid  for  non-residents,  and  lands  bought  and  sold  on 

commission. 

'.ettc-s  of  inquirv  ;^romp'-lv  and   rh'^erfuUy  an'^wered.''^* 


K  KIMBEL, 

PHOTOGRAPHER, 


Beaton   Doea^  Yokohama, 


,  The  greatest  variety  of  photographs  of  Japanese 
scenery,  people,  etc.,  to  be  found^in  the  Empire, 
at  lower  rates  than  can  elsewhere  be  obtained. 


7liillimir.lllKf}f'^  LIBRARY. 


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